Yesterday Digital Reporter Katrina Houghton braved the cold and joined a certain theatre pioneer for a walk around Manchester…
12 o’clock noon and I found myself at Manchester Visitor Centre being greeted by our fabulous guide Jean Bailo, dressed in appropriate 19th Century attire to enact Miss Annie Horniman, a true wonder woman and founder of the British repertory theatre movement that all began at the Gaiety Theatre here in Manchester.
Annie Horniman (known as Tabby to those she was fond of) began with an introduction. Born in London in 1860 Annie was the daughter of Frederick John Horniman who inherited his fathers Horniman’s Tea business and founded the Horniman Museum that is still open today. Annie attended the Slade School of Fine Art, she was a keen cyclist, liked to smoke in public, dressed extravagantly and was a member of the occult society the Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn. Annie’s artistic abilities were limited but what she lacked in skill, she made up for with her passion for theatre and opera and in 1899 along with her friend, poet W. B. Yeats, she helped establish the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and consequently realised her talent as a theatre administrator. In 1908 Annie purchased the Gaiety Theatre intent on bringing new and local theatre to all classes of society and with that we set off on our journey through radical Manchester.
Marching fiercely through the biting northern wind, we stopped at several landmarks such as the Portico Library, home to an impressive collection of 19th century literature, an insight into the mindset and culture of this golden era we were exploring. I noticed Annie’s suffragette sash proudly on display and we took a moment by Manchester Art Gallery where Annie told us of how a group of women famously vandalised works of art here in a statement of getting their voices heard. This was all part of a Suffragette militant campaign that saw women across the country turning to violent acts and hunger strikes in pursuit of equality. Standing in the courtyard of the Town Hall, Annie showed us the prison where some of these women were kept and force-fed. All evidence of their stay has since been demolished, Annie hopes that one day these will be opened and restored for the public to see. I begin to realise I am revisiting a piece of history that resulted in the freedom I have today. It’s inspiring that a woman like Annie defied social prejudices and created success in a time when women were seen as inferior. She took us to the University of Manchester’s Library that houses a large selection of her writings and Gaiety Theatre programs. Last stop was the old Free Trade Hall (now the Radisson Hotel) a stunning building in itself but we stood looking outward to the other side of the street. Across the road opposite is where the Gaiety Theatre once stood, aided with some old photo’s we imagined it there as a ghost and though its structure no longer remains its legacy lives on though the plays that Annie championed there.
Our tour concluded with a screening of Hobson’s Choice by Harold Brighouse, and by gum it was wonderful to have the opportunity to view this film in the cinema. A timeless romantic comedy centered on drunk, tight fisted father and boot-maker Henry Hobson and his three grown-up daughters who set about outwitting him to change their lives for the better. An inspiring tale of northern character, suffragette inspiration and the conviction that hard work and choosing to make a change is better than staying as you are.
Annie Horniman: Manchester’s Theatre Pioneer guided walk and screening was part of:
