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Edmund Falconer
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Edmund Falconer
Edmund Falconer (c.1814 – 29 September 1879), born Edmund O'Rourke, was an Irish poet, actor, theatre manager, songwriter and playwright, known for his keen wit and outstanding acting skills.
Edmund O'Rourke was born in Dublin around 1814. He entered the theatrical world as a child, however he did not achieve fame until he was over 40. The first half of his working life was spent playing in repertory theatre in Ireland and the provinces of England. While working as a jobbing actor, he published his first volume of poems – Man's Mission – in 1852.
O'Rourke finally achieved success at the age of 41, when he performed two very diverse roles in Hamlet and the comedy Three Fingered Jack on the same night at the Adelphi Theatre in Liverpool in 1854. He received such rave reviews that he never had to tour the provinces again.
Two years later he changed his stage name to Edmund Falconer and wrote his first successful play, The Cagot or Heart for Heart. It was the start of his second career, that of a London dramatist. Heart for Heart was performed with great success for the first time at the Lyceum Theatre, London, under Charles Dillon's management, on 6 December 1856. The Athenaeum newspaper commented that 'the dialogue is remarkable for noble sentiment, although the verse is not always correct' (13 Dec 1856). His next piece was A Husband for an Hour, produced at the Haymarket Theatre in June 1857.
The year 1858 saw Falconer translate Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas, which was performed at the Princess Theatre in late 1858. During that same year, he began a profitable collaboration with the composer Michael William Balfe by writing (in collaboration with Augustus Glossop Harris) the librettos for the operas The Rose of Castille (1857) and Satanella (1858), as well as the lyrics for Balfe's popular song Killarney, which remained a concert hall favourite well into the 20th century.
Falconer, who was said to have had boundless energy, also turned his attention to theatre managing. It was on 26 August 1858 with F. B. Chatterton that he took over the Lyceum Theatre in London. Falconer was not above using his position to stage his own plays. The first was Extremes, a comedy of manners, which was performed on his opening night of 26 August.
A reporter for The Times reviewed the show and said: "The characters are sharply defined and exactly of a kind to be perfectly intelligible to a large audience." Several more of Falconer's own pieces soon followed, including Francesca in March 1859.
Falconer gave up his management of the Lyceum after just a couple of years, although he resumed the role once more in 1861. Yet more of his own plays soon followed, including Woman, Love Against The World in August 1861 and Peep o' Day in November 1861. It is for Peep o' Day, a stage-version of John Banim’s novels John Doe and The Nowlans, that Falconer is probably best remembered. It contained a scene in which the heroine is saved from live burial and ran until December 1862. Meanwhile, he contributed two comedies to the Haymarket Theatre, too, Family Wills and Does He Love Me?, both starring Amy Sedgwick.
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Edmund Falconer
Edmund Falconer (c.1814 – 29 September 1879), born Edmund O'Rourke, was an Irish poet, actor, theatre manager, songwriter and playwright, known for his keen wit and outstanding acting skills.
Edmund O'Rourke was born in Dublin around 1814. He entered the theatrical world as a child, however he did not achieve fame until he was over 40. The first half of his working life was spent playing in repertory theatre in Ireland and the provinces of England. While working as a jobbing actor, he published his first volume of poems – Man's Mission – in 1852.
O'Rourke finally achieved success at the age of 41, when he performed two very diverse roles in Hamlet and the comedy Three Fingered Jack on the same night at the Adelphi Theatre in Liverpool in 1854. He received such rave reviews that he never had to tour the provinces again.
Two years later he changed his stage name to Edmund Falconer and wrote his first successful play, The Cagot or Heart for Heart. It was the start of his second career, that of a London dramatist. Heart for Heart was performed with great success for the first time at the Lyceum Theatre, London, under Charles Dillon's management, on 6 December 1856. The Athenaeum newspaper commented that 'the dialogue is remarkable for noble sentiment, although the verse is not always correct' (13 Dec 1856). His next piece was A Husband for an Hour, produced at the Haymarket Theatre in June 1857.
The year 1858 saw Falconer translate Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas, which was performed at the Princess Theatre in late 1858. During that same year, he began a profitable collaboration with the composer Michael William Balfe by writing (in collaboration with Augustus Glossop Harris) the librettos for the operas The Rose of Castille (1857) and Satanella (1858), as well as the lyrics for Balfe's popular song Killarney, which remained a concert hall favourite well into the 20th century.
Falconer, who was said to have had boundless energy, also turned his attention to theatre managing. It was on 26 August 1858 with F. B. Chatterton that he took over the Lyceum Theatre in London. Falconer was not above using his position to stage his own plays. The first was Extremes, a comedy of manners, which was performed on his opening night of 26 August.
A reporter for The Times reviewed the show and said: "The characters are sharply defined and exactly of a kind to be perfectly intelligible to a large audience." Several more of Falconer's own pieces soon followed, including Francesca in March 1859.
Falconer gave up his management of the Lyceum after just a couple of years, although he resumed the role once more in 1861. Yet more of his own plays soon followed, including Woman, Love Against The World in August 1861 and Peep o' Day in November 1861. It is for Peep o' Day, a stage-version of John Banim’s novels John Doe and The Nowlans, that Falconer is probably best remembered. It contained a scene in which the heroine is saved from live burial and ran until December 1862. Meanwhile, he contributed two comedies to the Haymarket Theatre, too, Family Wills and Does He Love Me?, both starring Amy Sedgwick.
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