Stanley Houghton

February 22, 1881 (age 32)

Ashton-upon-Mersey, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom

At sixteen, Stanley began to work in his father's cotton warehouse and never returned to school. Houghton sold cotton from 1897 to 1912. The world of the Manchester cotton business provided Houghton with much of the material for his dramas set in northern England. Houghton spent his spare time pursuing his love of literature and the theatre. The Manchester City News and Manchester Guardian published several of his drama reviews and notices. Houghton also started a small luncheon club devoted to the discussion of theatrical subjects. To hone his practical skills in the theatre, he participated in numerous amateur productions as an actor. According to his friend, the playwright Harold Brighouse, Houghton performed in more than seventy roles between 1901 and 1912. Houghton's first efforts as a playwright were farces and one-act plays, some of which were written while he was still a teenager. In 1908, he produced his first play, The Dear Departed, under the patronage of the wealthy Englishwoman Annie E. F. Horniman. Horniman had formed a repertory theatre in Manchester, the Gaiety. Her benevolence greatly influenced the development of repertory theatre in England and Ireland. The Dear Departed served as a curtain raiser to Widowers' Houses by Bernard Shaw. In The Younger Generation, Houghton's second full-length play and one of his most popular works, the playwright portrays the rebellion of the Kennion children against their household's strict puritanical values. The influence of Oscar Wilde's work, in particular his play The Importance of Being Earnest, can be seen in Houghton's plays Fancy Free and Partners. Fancy Free is a one-act farce that appeared at the Gaiety in 1911. Its subject is the reunion of a husband and wife who decide not to go through with their plans to elope with others. This basic plot became the basis for Partners, too, which was performed in 1915. Houghton expanded and rewrote another one-act play, The Fifth Commandment, which became The Perfect Cure. Independent Means is Houghton's first full-length production. The influence of Henrik Ibsen and Shaw is easily detected in Houghton's portrayal of a middle-class woman's struggle for greater independence. Houghton left Manchester and the cotton business for London in 1912. His decision to move came on the heels of the success of his play Hindie Wakes. The issue of generational conflict was also explored by Houghton in an early play, The Old Testament and the New, which was not performed until 1914. With the success of Hindle Wakes, Houghton gained notoriety on the literary scene. He was the subject of a caricature by Max Beerbohm; the Savage Club and the Dramatists' Club invited him to be a member. In London, Houghton wrote three plays for the Garrick Theatre in 1912. Phipps, the only one of the three to have been published, is a one-act play set in London. It is a play about a couple that wants a divorce; their butler offers to help by running off with the wife. Houghton found the attention he received in London oppressive, however, and soon left for Paris. There he worked on a novel entitled Life, which he never finished. The six chapters he was able to write before his death are featured in The Works of Stanley Houghton. Struck by illness on a holiday in Venice in 1913. Houghton died in Manchester, where he had returned to convalesce.

Stanley Houghton Edit Profile

also known as William Stanley Houghton

playwright

Background

Stanley Houghton was born on February 22, 1881 in Ashton-upon-Mersey, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom to John Hartley Houghton, a cotton merchant in Manchester, and Lucy Mary née Darbyshire.

Education

Stanley's formal education consisted of a patchwork of schools in the Manchester area, including Bowdon College, Stockport Grammar School, Wilmslow Grammar School, and Manchester Grammar School.

Career

At sixteen, Stanley began to work in his father's cotton warehouse and never returned to school. Houghton sold cotton from 1897 to 1912. The world of the Manchester cotton business provided Houghton with much of the material for his dramas set in northern England.

Houghton spent his spare time pursuing his love of literature and the theatre. The Manchester City News and Manchester Guardian published several of his drama reviews and notices. Houghton also started a small luncheon club devoted to the discussion of theatrical subjects. To hone his practical skills in the theatre, he participated in numerous amateur productions as an actor. According to his friend, the playwright Harold Brighouse, Houghton performed in more than seventy roles between 1901 and 1912.

Houghton's first efforts as a playwright were farces and one-act plays, some of which were written while he was still a teenager. In 1908, he produced his first play, The Dear Departed, under the patronage of the wealthy Englishwoman Annie E. F. Horniman. Horniman had formed a repertory theatre in Manchester, the Gaiety. Her benevolence greatly influenced the development of repertory theatre in England and Ireland.

The Dear Departed served as a curtain raiser to Widowers' Houses by Bernard Shaw. In The Younger Generation, Houghton's second full-length play and one of his most popular works, the playwright portrays the rebellion of the Kennion children against their household's strict puritanical values.

The influence of Oscar Wilde's work, in particular his play The Importance of Being Earnest, can be seen in Houghton's plays Fancy Free and Partners. Fancy Free is a one-act farce that appeared at the Gaiety in 1911. Its subject is the reunion of a husband and wife who decide not to go through with their plans to elope with others. This basic plot became the basis for Partners, too, which was performed in 1915.

Houghton expanded and rewrote another one-act play, The Fifth Commandment, which became The Perfect Cure.

Independent Means is Houghton's first full-length production. The influence of Henrik Ibsen and Shaw is easily detected in Houghton's portrayal of a middle-class woman's struggle for greater independence.

Houghton left Manchester and the cotton business for London in 1912. His decision to move came on the heels of the success of his play Hindie Wakes.

The issue of generational conflict was also explored by Houghton in an early play, The Old Testament and the New, which was not performed until 1914.

With the success of Hindle Wakes, Houghton gained notoriety on the literary scene. He was the subject of a caricature by Max Beerbohm; the Savage Club and the Dramatists' Club invited him to be a member. In London, Houghton wrote three plays for the Garrick Theatre in 1912. Phipps, the only one of the three to have been published, is a one-act play set in London. It is a play about a couple that wants a divorce; their butler offers to help by running off with the wife.

Houghton found the attention he received in London oppressive, however, and soon left for Paris. There he worked on a novel entitled Life, which he never finished. The six chapters he was able to write before his death are featured in The Works of Stanley Houghton. Struck by illness on a holiday in Venice in 1913. Houghton died in Manchester, where he had returned to convalesce.

Achievements

Stanley was a prominent playwright who during his short life made his mark as a notable member of the Manchester school ol playwrights. In 1915 a memorial tablet was unveiled in the Manchester Reference Library.

Works

$Horniman\'s Choice Horniman\'s Choice$ The Works of Stanley Houghton The Works of Stanley Houghton

The younger generation The younger generation

book

Connections

Stanley was unmarried.

Father:: John Hartley Houghton
Mother:: Lucy Mary née Darbyshire

References

Contemporary Authors: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers, Vol. 178

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