0:00:14 > 0:00:17London's Theatreland - a buzzing,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20thriving community in the heart of the West End.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22A melting pot of tourists, theatre-goers,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26hawkers and of course actors.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31But way before my time, there was one man more than any other
0:00:31 > 0:00:35whose name was synonymous with the profession that is my life.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40He was hailed as a genius,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43a master of his art.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47And it was said of him also that he had no rival.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51At his best, when he really gave everything,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54there was just nobody who could match him.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57A man who delighted in reviews, hailing him
0:00:57 > 0:01:01as the best tragedian and comedian in England.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04He certainly wasn't backwards in coming forwards.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09He was so well known, he was the George Clooney of his day. Ah.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13This made him legendary. Yes.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17That man was David Garrick.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20At the height of his fame, in the mid-18th century,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24David Garrick was the most famous actor the world had ever seen.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28As both manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury lane,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30and its star performer,
0:01:30 > 0:01:35he was the undisputed lord and master of the British stage.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39In my career, I have had the privilege of working with great
0:01:39 > 0:01:43names like Olivier and Gielgud, but though in his time Garrick was at
0:01:43 > 0:01:46least as famous, I didn't know much about him.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50I want to uncover the secret of Garrick's immense success,
0:01:50 > 0:01:54go behind his theatrical mask, get to grips with his acting
0:01:54 > 0:01:57technique and find out how a penniless young
0:01:57 > 0:02:01man from the provinces became a national, cultural icon.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Walk down London's Garrick Street
0:02:11 > 0:02:15and you will come to the Garrick Club, a private members club,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18established in 1831 and named in Garrick's honour.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22It is one of the oldest, most prestigious
0:02:22 > 0:02:25private clubs in the capital...
0:02:25 > 0:02:27and a veritable shrine to Garrick.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Dr Moira Goff is the librarian.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Welcome to the Garrick Club library. Thank you. Do come and have a look
0:02:36 > 0:02:39at some of the things we have out -
0:02:39 > 0:02:42all to do with Garrick. These look very pretty.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45So we have some memorabilia. What is that? Yes.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49Two hands, I think. It's a powder puff. Like a bellows.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53Yes, it is. Can you imagine Garrick sitting in his dressing room,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55with a cape over his shoulders, and a mask, somebody behind him
0:02:55 > 0:02:59puffing powder onto his wig before he gets ready to go on stage?
0:02:59 > 0:03:02While he's still learning his lines! SHE LAUGHS
0:03:02 > 0:03:03Yes, very likely!
0:03:04 > 0:03:08'Amongst the trinkets and curios is a significant item,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11'key to unlocking Garrick's story.'
0:03:11 > 0:03:17Goodman's Fields, October 19th, 1741.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Now, this is the beginning of it all, isn't it?
0:03:20 > 0:03:23This is the playbill that announced
0:03:23 > 0:03:25"the first appearance of Mr Garrick...
0:03:25 > 0:03:28"in an historical play called
0:03:28 > 0:03:32"The Life And Death Of King Richard III.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36"The part of King Richard... by a gentleman
0:03:36 > 0:03:40"who never appeared on any stage."
0:03:40 > 0:03:44This was...a legend.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49This made him legendary. This is where he
0:03:49 > 0:03:51burst into public consciousness as
0:03:51 > 0:03:54the great actor from the beginning, I think.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Absolutely, from the very beginning. I mean, the audiences raved,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02he suddenly became king of the theatre in one night!
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Why did they say "a gentleman who never appeared on any stage?"
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Was it a fail-safe thing? "If I'm rotten, if I'm bad, it's because I've
0:04:11 > 0:04:14"never been on the stage." If you
0:04:14 > 0:04:16make a mess of it and it doesn't happen,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19then you can withdraw gracefully because
0:04:19 > 0:04:22people don't really know who you are. Of course, with him,
0:04:22 > 0:04:23it had the opposite effect.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25He obviously made quite a stir.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28People would see this performance and they think,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32"My God, for a beginner, he isn't half good."
0:04:32 > 0:04:34"Oh, well, I wonder what's going to happen next."
0:04:34 > 0:04:36And they tell their friends, and people start
0:04:36 > 0:04:37flocking to it.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41So that playbill of Garrick's Richard III
0:04:41 > 0:04:42is one of the most important items
0:04:42 > 0:04:46in the whole of British theatrical history. Everybody raved
0:04:46 > 0:04:51about his performance. It was the most-stunning debut on the London
0:04:51 > 0:04:55stage ever. But who was this
0:04:55 > 0:05:00gentleman who has never appeared on any stage?
0:05:00 > 0:05:04I'm meeting Ian Kelly, a fellow actor, author
0:05:04 > 0:05:07and a long-time Garrick admirer.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12Ian, I want to talk to you about the man Garrick,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16not particularly the actor, but where he came from, who he was.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Amazingly, this sort of superstar of the 18th century
0:05:20 > 0:05:24comes from a small provincial town... Yes.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28..and he's born in Hereford, but he is brought up in Lichfield and
0:05:28 > 0:05:32part of a very small-town world
0:05:32 > 0:05:35that becomes even smaller, in a sense,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38because he ends up at this minuscule, little school
0:05:38 > 0:05:44with less than a dozen pupils, but their teacher is Samuel Johnson.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49And this is the beginnings of one of the most important friendships of
0:05:49 > 0:05:53that era, or any era. They are a very odd couple all round,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Sam Johnson and David Garrick, because Garrick is this lithe,
0:05:57 > 0:06:01little fella. Febrile, charming,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04handsome, quick-witted, quick of movement.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Very short, very small, I hear.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Do you know his exact height?
0:06:08 > 0:06:10We think about 5ft 4.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Five-four. He's a wee fella. He's a wee fella.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18And his boon companion, Sam Johnson, this lumbering hulk of a man,
0:06:18 > 0:06:19as he was described.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22And when exactly they hatch a plot to, as it were, run away to
0:06:22 > 0:06:25London, we don't know, but they do. And by repute, both of them,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28rather touchingly, with, as it were, half a play script
0:06:28 > 0:06:32under their arms... Yes, describe that journey.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37Garrick is about 20, and his former schoolmaster is about 27, 28.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39And they come to London, where they've got a single horse
0:06:39 > 0:06:42and sort of took turns to ride and walk from...
0:06:42 > 0:06:47One rode and tethered the horse... Mm-hm. ..and walked on.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52Then the second one, who was walking, untethered it, got on it and rode.
0:06:52 > 0:06:53HE LAUGHS
0:06:56 > 0:06:58On arrival in London, Garrick half-heartedly
0:06:58 > 0:07:01tried his hand as a lawyer.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Then equally half-heartedly
0:07:04 > 0:07:30went into business with his brother as a wine merchant.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34The play was called Lethe, a dramatic satire
0:07:34 > 0:07:39first staged here at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
0:07:42 > 0:07:45What is remarkable is that Garrick's play gives us
0:07:45 > 0:07:48an extraordinary insight into the theatre of his day.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01was known, before he has done his Richard III, called Lethe.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03It was a satire, wasn't it? That's right.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07The central character is Aesop.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11And various characters come to see Aesop.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15There's a scene where it is the fine gentleman
0:08:15 > 0:08:18talking about the pleasures of his life and what he does.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21And there's one point where he talks about this stage experience.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25And he talks about how he has gone onto the stage
0:08:25 > 0:08:26during the performance
0:08:26 > 0:08:31as a member of the audience. "I stand upon the stage, talk loud
0:08:31 > 0:08:34"and stare about, which confounds the actors
0:08:34 > 0:08:36"and disturbs the audience.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40"Upon which the galleries, who hate the appearance of one of us,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43"begin to hiss and cry, 'Off, off!'
0:08:43 > 0:08:47"while I, undaunted, stamp my foot so,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49"loll with my shoulder thus,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52"and take snuff with my right hand
0:08:52 > 0:08:55"and smile scornfully, thus. DEREK LAUGHS
0:08:55 > 0:08:58"This exasperates the savages, and they attack us
0:08:58 > 0:09:01"with volleys of sucked oranges and half-eaten pippins."
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Wonderful! DEREK LAUGHS
0:09:03 > 0:09:06The whole theatre experience was different, so the audience
0:09:06 > 0:09:08behaviour, the audience expectation was different.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10It was very much an interactive
0:09:10 > 0:09:15experience, and barracking the actors was a big thing.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Where the premium seats are these days,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19that was the pit then, that was
0:09:19 > 0:09:23bench seating and that would really be full of all the young dandies.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26They would be there to play cards with each other,
0:09:26 > 0:09:28to drink and carouse,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32to have a good time, to show off to other people who are around.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37There would be prostitutes working the room down there as well.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39So what was in it for the actors?
0:09:39 > 0:09:43So even then, Garrick was obviously perturbed by the way
0:09:43 > 0:09:46the theatre worked, as somebody trying to break into it.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Garrick's first-ever play was a smash hit and became a staple
0:09:51 > 0:09:55of the 18th century theatre repertoire, but despite his success
0:09:55 > 0:09:58as a playwright, in his heart of hearts Garrick still wanted to
0:09:58 > 0:10:03be an actor. However, he wouldn't be making his debut here at Drury Lane.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06As a novice, he would need to start at the bottom.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12At that time there were only two official theatres here in London,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Covent Garden and Drury Lane.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20All the rest operated on the margins
0:10:20 > 0:10:24of legality, a rather dubious and seedy existence.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29Plays were squeezed in between song recitals and rope dancers.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32So it was at one of these
0:10:32 > 0:10:36less salubrious establishments, Goodman's Fields in the East End,
0:10:36 > 0:10:41that Garrick's career began. And he was going to have to work very
0:10:41 > 0:10:46hard to convince his family that acting was a reputable profession.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Amazingly, the letters Garrick wrote home during his debut
0:10:53 > 0:10:56season at Goodman's Fields still survive,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59and are kept here at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11This is interesting. It's a letter from David to his brother Peter.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15"My mind, as you must know,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18"has always been inclined to the stage.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23"I know you will be much displeased at me. Yet I hope when you
0:11:23 > 0:11:27"shall find that I may have the genius of an actor,
0:11:27 > 0:11:32"without the vices, you will think less severe of me
0:11:32 > 0:11:35"and not be ashamed to own me for a brother"
0:11:37 > 0:11:40It's sad to think that our profession was, for
0:11:40 > 0:11:43so long, considered unacceptable.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46It's wonderful that Garrick changed all that.
0:11:46 > 0:11:51Like him, I always wanted to go on the stage, I don't know why,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53I don't know where it came from.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57Some odd gene must have got in on the night of my conception.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02But unlike Garrick, I had
0:12:02 > 0:12:05huge support from my parents.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Now, here is another letter from Garrick. "London, Tuesday
0:12:15 > 0:12:18"night. My dear brother,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20"as you finished your last letter
0:12:20 > 0:12:23"with saying that you did not approve
0:12:23 > 0:12:27"of the stage, yet you would always be my affectionate brother, I may
0:12:27 > 0:12:33"now venture to tell you I am very near quite resolved...
0:12:33 > 0:12:34"to be a player."
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Oh, there you... Now he goes on to say,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42"I have the judgment of the best judges who, to
0:12:42 > 0:12:47"a man, are of the opinion that I shall turn out,
0:12:47 > 0:12:52"nay they say I am not only the best tragedian
0:12:52 > 0:12:55"but comedian in England."
0:12:56 > 0:12:59He certainly wasn't backwards in coming forwards.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03But what he says is true, he was wowing the audience.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Packed houses...screaming for him.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13So what was it that Garrick was doing that was so very different?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18I'm intrigued, I really want to understand
0:13:18 > 0:13:21the technique of this charismatic performer.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25When Garrick arrived on the scene,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29the London stage was still dominated by a very formal
0:13:29 > 0:13:32style of acting that went back to the restoration period.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39What went before him was declamation,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42decorum, beauty. Ah.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45So that the whole thing was declaimed.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Now, I think what Garrick rediscovered is that
0:13:48 > 0:13:52basis of great acting, which is to surprise an audience. Ah, yes.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Changes of pace, rhythm, pauses. Yes, yes.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Garrick was brilliant at observing.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02And like a modern actor who is given a different role, they might go
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and do some research in a particular environment. He would do
0:14:04 > 0:14:08that, so he's often described, for instance, if he's playing the part
0:14:08 > 0:14:12of a servant. He's watched the way the man would have been scratching
0:14:12 > 0:14:16his leg and used the same gesture. He will borrow from real life.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18He will borrow... Oh, yes.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22I think actors are scavengers. Yes, put it in the box of tricks.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26I mean, it's very lovely to say,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29you know, it's art...
0:14:29 > 0:14:32it's craft, it's skill. Yeah.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37It's also tricks. Yes. And I am sure Garrick was as tricky as anybody.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39He was, definitely. Yes.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42So how natural was Garrick's naturalness?
0:14:42 > 0:14:44HE CHUCKLES
0:14:44 > 0:14:48For us, it probably wouldn't seem natural at all because when you look
0:14:48 > 0:14:53at the drawings and the portraits of him, they are very statuesque poses.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Yes.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00The naturalness of Garrick comes from his emotional commitment
0:15:00 > 0:15:02and involvement.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Did he not have a trick wig
0:15:05 > 0:15:07for Hamlet, that he could
0:15:07 > 0:15:10make his hair stand on end?
0:15:10 > 0:15:12He did, I think, for some performances use that.
0:15:12 > 0:15:18The very first time he did Hamlet in the 1740s.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21And it was an attempt... He was fascinated by modern
0:15:21 > 0:15:24studies of physiology, so what he wanted to try
0:15:24 > 0:15:27and communicate to people was that this sight made
0:15:27 > 0:15:32literally his hair stand on end, so he did that, the wig came up a bit
0:15:32 > 0:15:35and his hat fell off. But I don't think he always did that.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38But at his best, when he really gave everything, there was just
0:15:38 > 0:15:40nobody who could match him.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44Less than a year after his debut on the seedy fringes of London
0:15:44 > 0:15:54theatre, the plucky young actor from the provinces went legit
0:15:54 > 0:15:58In his first season, Garrick played King Lear, Hamlet
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and, by royal command, Richard III.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04British theatre had a new shining star.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Garrick fever may have gripped the nation but Garrick never allowed
0:16:08 > 0:16:10his head to be completely turned.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12He took his art very seriously,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and published an actor's guide to the craft.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23Garrick's essay on acting first appeared as a short sixpenny
0:16:23 > 0:16:28pamphlet...issued just before his own debut as Macbeth in 1744.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33The essay offers a wonderful insight into Garrick's move towards
0:16:33 > 0:16:36realism and a more natural way of acting.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42So, here we have the notes on how to act as Macbeth after
0:16:42 > 0:16:44murdering Duncan.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50"He should, at that time, be a moving statue,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53"or indeed as a petrified man.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57"His eyes must speak, and his tongue
0:16:57 > 0:17:18"be metaphorically silent.
0:17:18 > 0:17:53"and his body from his soul.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57physically what to do, but Garrick also added
0:17:57 > 0:18:03spirit, emotion, passion.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Macbeth was one of many Shakespearean roles that
0:18:07 > 0:18:08Garrick made his own.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14I've come to his country residence in Hampton to meet Ian Kelly
0:18:14 > 0:18:17again, who wants to show me something that might help me
0:18:17 > 0:18:20understand Garrick's deep regard for Shakespeare.
0:18:23 > 0:18:35This is the temple to Shakespeare in the grounds of his villa.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40contemplate the greatness of the arts or the evanescence of life.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44But Garrick wanted to contemplate Shakespeare and have his guests
0:18:44 > 0:18:47do the same, so the great and the good would come down the river
0:18:47 > 0:18:49and would visit Hampton.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Tell me about the statue.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58It looks like Shakespeare, but at the same time it looks...
0:18:58 > 0:19:03It's too real to be Shakespeare, I mean the bulging tummy
0:19:03 > 0:19:05and all that. Yeah. Well, the truth
0:19:05 > 0:19:08of the story is, the body is David Garrick
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and the head is an idea of Shakespeare.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16So he... Garrick's almost single-handedly
0:19:16 > 0:19:19revived Shakespeare and his reputation?
0:19:19 > 0:19:23He's huge in the process of that.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25It's partly to do with what's going on legally,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29because there is a Theatre Licensing Act in 1737.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32And it requires every new play to be submitted
0:19:32 > 0:19:35to the Lord Chamberlain for censorship.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39And as a result of this, there's a lot of new interest in Shakespeare,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41but also...
0:19:41 > 0:19:45and I think this is the key to understanding Garrick's interest in Shakespeare,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48there was a growing awareness that it was a wonderful vehicle for
0:19:48 > 0:19:53the new style of acting and the new way of understanding performance.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Why then did Garrick muck about with him so much?
0:19:58 > 0:20:01Um. I mean, he wrote scenes,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04he changed the end of Lear.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Why did he do that, do you think? It is of course ludicrous that
0:20:08 > 0:20:10we should have a happy-ending Lear,
0:20:10 > 0:20:14where Cordelia comes back to life. Yes. Or indeed a happy-ending
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Romeo And Juliet. Yes. However, he was sometimes
0:20:18 > 0:20:21using Shakespeare in different contexts, because sometimes it
0:20:21 > 0:20:25would be the afterpiece for... It needed to be foreshortened to go
0:20:25 > 0:20:29at a different part in the evening. So there was a lot of reimagining
0:20:29 > 0:20:32of Shakespeare, which you could see as disrespectful, but was
0:20:32 > 0:20:35also part of the agenda that allowed it
0:20:35 > 0:20:38to be properly on the stage again.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Also, he was responsible for...
0:20:41 > 0:20:45putting Shakespeare in Stratford
0:20:45 > 0:20:48and anchoring him in Stratford.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52He hit upon the idea of putting on a jubilee, a sort of Shakespeare
0:20:52 > 0:20:55festival in Stratford, with a vast rotunda,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58the first-ever festival theatre there. There were going to be
0:20:58 > 0:21:01fireworks and horse racing and balls
0:21:01 > 0:21:04and masquerade and a whole shebang.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06But...something went wrong.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08It goes horribly wrong for poor Garrick,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10and everybody else who's traipsed out,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13because a lot of the great and the good, hundreds of people turn up.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16All the nobility of London arriving.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21And it pours with rain, it could not have been more of a disaster.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40But it wasn't the end. Garrick rewrote the pageant
0:21:40 > 0:21:45and put it on at Drury lane, where it was a tremendous success,
0:21:45 > 0:21:50packing the houses and recouping his money four times over.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53So David Garrick wasn't only a great actor,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55he was a rather brilliant impresario.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Garrick was 30 when, in 1747, he became joint manager of the
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the scene of his many great dramatic triumphs.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12But it wasn't just acting that Garrick revolutionised.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15He also transformed the business of theatre.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19First off was to clean up the rowdy behaviour of the audience.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24He stopped people sitting on the stage
0:22:24 > 0:22:26so they didn't interrupt the action.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29He did away with the
0:22:29 > 0:22:32cheap admission halfway through the show, so that stopped that.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34And presumably that then had a big effect on the way
0:22:34 > 0:22:37people reacted to the drama.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41And really set the tone for what is obviously our modern theatre.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44And focused it much more on the play, on the players.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48He insisted on rehearsing. Yes, he introduced rehearsals.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53Garrick was not only very keen on changing the acting style
0:22:53 > 0:22:56and making the play the thing, if you like. Yes.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Introducing scenic effects,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01introducing costumes that made sense with the character
0:23:01 > 0:23:06and the action. And when he employed Philip De Loutherbourg to come over.
0:23:06 > 0:23:07Oh, the designer.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11Before there would be probably, right at the very back of the stage,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14there might be a semblance of a wooded glen
0:23:14 > 0:23:16or a frontage of a house.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Loutherbourg used different materials. He'd use translucent
0:23:19 > 0:23:23materials, which means that they could actually move a lantern
0:23:23 > 0:23:26up behind the cloth to make it look as if the moon was rising.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Yes. That was part of his realism and his naturalism.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31Not just in his own performances,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34but the presentation... Of the whole thing.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38And that was all a completely different and new experience.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41And presumably people then saw that as an attraction.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Garrick understood how to put on a show.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51He understood that audiences wanted spectacle and surprise.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55But also, Garrick quite cannily knew the importance of self-promotion,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59capitalising on the explosion of print media at the time.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05The V holds a vast collection of Garrick prints,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08including his Richard III, as captured by one of the most
0:24:08 > 0:24:10famous artists of the era,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12William Hogarth.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18So this was published in 1746.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22And it says, "Mr Garrick in the character of Richard III,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25"Shakespeare, act five, scene seven."
0:24:25 > 0:24:30And Hogarth complained about the difficulty of painting Garrick,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33because his face changed so much, because he had all these...
0:24:33 > 0:24:34It was so expressive?
0:24:34 > 0:24:38Yes. He had to keep trying and trying again to capture
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Garrick's likeness. Really?
0:24:41 > 0:24:44The other interesting thing is, because Garrick knew
0:24:44 > 0:24:49so many of the artists, and he moved in that world, he was painted
0:24:49 > 0:24:53so much, he was the most painted person,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56after the king, in his age.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Yes, how extraordinary. Do you know how many?
0:24:59 > 0:25:05Over 200 different representations, which were then engraved
0:25:05 > 0:25:07and etched.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11I mean, Garrick knew the marketability of his own image.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14These were all part of his celebrity, weren't they?
0:25:14 > 0:25:18These were the equivalent now of endless photographs.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Yes. Of course, everyone would
0:25:20 > 0:25:23have recognised Garrick by this time,
0:25:23 > 0:25:28he was so well known. He was the Georg Clooney of his day!
0:25:28 > 0:25:29Ah.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Amongst all these images of Garrick, there is
0:25:36 > 0:25:38one that is particularly poignant.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43And this is one that Garrick wouldn't have seen,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45because it was published after his death.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52It shows Garrick being lifted up from his coffin.
0:25:52 > 0:25:53By angels.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55By angels.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59And being taken up to Heaven, but calling off on the way.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Oh, saying hello to...Shakespeare.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06Shakespeare's waiting there with the muse of comedy and the muse
0:26:06 > 0:26:12of tragedy and then they'll probably go on up to have a high old time...
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Oh, yes. It's party time up there, isn't it?
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Yes, so they needn't worry.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22Don't look so sad, he's going to have a lovely time up there.
0:26:24 > 0:26:30David Garrick died in 1779 - he was 61.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Ironically, he was about to put on the biggest show
0:26:35 > 0:26:38he ever staged - his own funeral.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44There are reports of close to 50,000 tickets
0:26:44 > 0:26:47being sold to see him lying in state.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55The cortege stretched from his Southampton Street home,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58all the way along the Strand to Westminster Abbey.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16I have been keen to uncover the real David Garrick.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20To find out if he really was the great actor,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24the great manager, the great showman that I had heard about.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26And I have to confess to being rather sceptical,
0:27:26 > 0:27:31but the truth is, he really was all these great things.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33He was a man who loved to perform,
0:27:33 > 0:27:37to write, loved to gossip, to entertain.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40The theatre was at the heart of everything he did,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42rightly or wrongly,
0:27:42 > 0:27:47and for me, as a mere actor, that is what this life is all about.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51The urge, the compulsion...to act.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56And not just the desire to act. It's not enough to WANT to act.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59It is the NEED to act.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02And I think Garrick had that in spades.
0:28:02 > 0:28:09In an age before TV and film, acting was totally ephemeral.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13There was absolutely no way of capturing the actor's inspiration.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17But I don't think Garrick's achievements are lost to us.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Far from it.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22They're built into the bricks and mortar of this place.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27They blaze brightly in the wider world of London's Theatreland.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31They're written into the DNA of the living,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34breathing tradition that is British theatre.
0:29:12 > 0:29:13MUSIC: Boombastic by Shaggy
0:29:13 > 0:29:15# Mr Lover Lover, mmm
0:29:15 > 0:29:18# Mr Lover Lover, girl
0:29:18 > 0:29:21# Mr Lover Lover, mmm... #