Bird and Forrest: Spartacus

The actor Edwin Forrest had very specific requirements when taking the lead role in new plays. He started offering prizes to well-written plays which met his standards; one such contest was won by Robert Montgomery Bird. However, Forrest did not want to produce the winning script, Pelopidas, or the Fall of the Polemarchs, a play set in Thebes in 378 B.C. So, he put Bird to work on an entirely new play, instructing him carefully on the requirements of the lead character.

On May 6, 1831, Bird completed The Gladiator, a play which tells the story of the revolt of Roman slaves under Spartacus. Forrest was pleased and set about producing it. By the fall, it opened in New York at the Park Theatre. Its success was instantaneous despite all of its problems: It was raining heavily on opening night, its scenery and costumes were poorly done, and secondary players were bad actors. Soon, however, the play traveled to Philadelphia, Boston, and elsewhere — all on the strength of the lead actor, Edwin Forrest.

Forrest's strengths were superficial, and certainly not "high" art. His "muscles" as an actor were not metaphorical and he made sure he was shirtless for much of The Gladiator. He loved melodrama and was overly emotive — full of fierce passion and rending grief. He wanted the spotlight, quite literally, and his Spartacus character easily outweighed all the other roles combined. Spartacus, the leader, is a tragic warrior, fighting to free his wife and child from slavery, but whose foil is a fellow revolting slave who wishes to ransack Rome rather than merely return home free. Through his treachery, Spartacus's family is killed and later dies himself, with sword in hand.

As playwright, Bird was likely surprised. He had low expectations for the play and noted the performance itself was "a horrid piece of bungling from beginning to end." One reviewer disagreed, calling it "the best native [i.e. American] tragedy extant." By the end of Bird's life, it had been performed over 100 times. Forrest and Bird continued to work together for much of their careers.

*The image above depicts Forrest as Spartacus later in his career, when weight gain forced him to cover his body more.

Drama between Bird and Forrest

The Broker of Bogota premiered on the stage of the Bowery Theatre in New York City on February 12, 1834. The play was written by Robert Montgomery Bird specifically for Edwin Forrest, one of the best-known actors of the day (pictured at right). After its first performance, Forrest wrote to the playwright: "I have just left the theatre — your tragedy was performed and crowned with entire success. The Broker of Bogota will live when our vile trunks are forgotten." Forrest continued to perform the piece, off and on, for many years, though it was never published in Bird's lifetime.

Bird became, for a time, a frequent collaborator with Forrest. The duo even did some traveling together, planning to go as far as Mexico (though they never actually made it). Forrest, however, had specific demands for any character he would play and frequently called for Bird to re-write scripts. Forrest created for himself a stock character — a brawny (but often rash) hero with more lines than any other character, and who often had a shirtless scene or two.

The Broker of Bogota, however, took a slight turn. Bird put aside his typical epic hero plays (often in exotic locals) and instead created a more domestic drama. Forrest played Febro, a middle-class man with three children, including his wild son Ramon, who is disowned from the family. Ramon is led by the villainous Cabarero to steal money from the Viceroy, in a set-up to make Febro look like the criminal. Febro is brought to trial before the Viceroy, but Ramon does not confess to save his father.

The play, which some modern critics call Bird's finest, is complicated and it's not entirely clear who the real villains and heroes are. Bird biographer Curtis Dahl also notes that the play fleshes out and humanizes even the minor characters in the plot. Nevertheless, Bird's interests as a playwright (and in Forrest) were waning. He was experimenting with various other literary forms on the side; after The Broker of Bogota, most of his fiction came in the form of novels, including Sheppard Lee.

Birth of Robert Montgomery Bird

Robert Montgomery Bird was born on February 5, 1806 in New Castle, Delaware. He went on to have a varied career, experimenting as a physician, farmer, photographer, inventor, politician, teacher, novelist, and playwright.

Though he started down the path of a medical doctor (he earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1827), Bird turned to literary interests as early as 1824, when he had minor poems published in a newspaper. He soon turned to novels, including his most endearing, Sheppard Lee, in 1836. The odd, Gothic-styled novel lends itself to frequent comparison with the slightly earlier Philadelphia novelist Charles Brockden Brown.

Sheppard Lee features a title character who has the power to project his spirit into people who are on the verge of death, thereby taking over. Inhabiting other bodies, Lee has some interesting adventures, including taking part in a slave revolt as "Nigger Tom"; he is hanged for his involvement. The scene is a cautionary one about the danger of putting the idea of freedom into the minds of "savage" Africans.

Bird soon became interested in drama and tried his hand at writing a play or two. Many of Bird's plays were started but never finished; he mapped out over 50 plays in his lifetime. Few were produced. His biggest supporter and, perhaps, his biggest obstacle as a playwright was the celebrity actor Edwin Forrest.

Beginning in 1828, Forrest offered monetary prizes for plays by American authors which he judged up to his (very high) standards. In the fall of 1830, Forrest accepted a manuscript from Bird, a play set in Thebes in 378 B.C. titled Pelopidas, or the Fall of the Polemarchs. Forrest immediately called for multiple editorial changes. He never produced it.

Forrest had certain expectations for any play written for him. He demanded to be the absolute center of attention, and required a character strong enough for him. Soon, Forrest convinced Bird to write an entirely new play, which opened in May of 1836.

*The image above is a self-portrait of Bird circa 1828. From an exhibit at UPenn libraries, Robert Montgomery Bird: Writer and Artist.