Maurice Browne: Difference between revisions

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{{About|the theater producer|other persons named Maurice Brown or Maurice Browne|Maurice Brown (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Maurice Browne

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| death_place = [[Torquay]], England

| resting_place = Dartington church yard

| nationality =

| other_names =

| alma_mater =

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==Early life==

He was born in [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], [[England]], the son of the Rev. Frederick Herbert Browne, a graduate of [[Wadham College, Oxford]] and head of [[Ipswich School]], and his wife Frances Anne Neligan, daughter of the Rev. Maurice Neligan D.D.<ref name=”HMS”>{{cite book |last1=Harbin |first1=Billy J. |last2=Marra |first2=Kim |last3=Schanke |first3=Robert A. |title=The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era |date=2005 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-06858-6 |pages=73–76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f0fbSlGN8uUC&pg=PP87 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{alox2|title=Browne, Rev. Frederick Herbert}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Marriages |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000358/18790104/211/0008 |work=Berkshire Chronicle |date=4 January 1879|page=8}}</ref>

He was educated at [[Temple Grove School]] and [[Winchester College]].<ref>{{Who’s Who|title=Browne, Maurice|id=U235163}}</ref> In 1894 his father committed suicide, leaving four children. Frances moved to [[Eastbourne]] to run a school, and Maurice moved to [[Eastbourne College]]. From there he won a scholarship to [[Peterhouse, Cambridge]], where he matriculated in Michaelmas Term 1900, having first joined up to the [[British Army]] and spent time in South Africa during the [[Second Anglo-Boer War]]. He graduated B.A. in 1903.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hibberd |first1=D. |title=Harold Monro: Poet of the New Age |date=13 February 2001 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-59578-1 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W5t_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=”acad”>{{acad|id= BRWN899FM|name=Browne, Frederick Maurice}}</ref>

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Meeting [[Ellen Van Volkenburg]] at [[Florence]] when travelling in Italy, Browne went to [[Chicago]] to marry her in 1912. That year they adapted a space in the [[Fine Arts Building (Chicago)|Fine Arts Building]] to create the [[Chicago Little Theatre]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pinkerton |first1=Jan |last2=Hudson |first2=Randolph H. |title=Encyclopedia of the Chicago Literary Renaissance |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0914-5 |page=353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iyy_uf6NqfYC&pg=PA353 |language=en}}</ref> In 1921, Browne and Volkenburg acted in the performance of [[George Bernard Shaw]]’s ”[[The Philanderer]]” at the Cornish School playhouse.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/seattle-union-record-the-philanderer/143850007/|title=Maurice Browne Players Please In Philanderer|work=Seattle Union Record|place=Seattle, Washington|date=July 18, 1921|access-date=2024-03-21}}</ref> They ran the theatre for five years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilmeth |first1=Don B. |last2=Bigsby |first2=Christopher |title=The Cambridge History of American Theatre |date=28 July 1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-65179-0 |page=10|volume=II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OnLavgEACAAJ |language=en}}</ref> They went on to found the department of drama at the [[Cornish School]] in [[Seattle]] in 1918.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cornish|first=Nellie C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ovVCAAAAIAAJ|title=Miss Aunt Nellie: The Autobiography of Nellie C. Cornish|place=Seattle, Washington |publisher=University of Washington Press|date=1964|page=109|access-date=2024-02-19}}</ref>

At the opening night of the [[Theatre of the Golden Bough]], Volkenburg had the title-role in Browne’s play, ”The Mother of Gregory,” which played June 6, 7, and 14, 1924.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DM_J66V6gfgC|journal= Dramatic Publishing Company|volume= 15-16 |title=The Drama |date=1924 |page=33|access-date=2024-02-19}}</ref>

Browne’s greatest triumph came in 1929 when he produced ”[[Journey’s End]]”, by [[R. C. Sherriff]] in London.<ref>Browne, Maurice. ”Too Late to Lament: An Autobiography”. London, Gollancz, 1955, pp. 306-309.</ref> The production was also highly profitable for him. He was able to invest in stakes in the [[Gielgud Theatre|Globe Theatre]] and [[Sondheim Theatre|Queen’s Theatre]] in London’s West End.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duberman |first1=Martin B. |title=Paul Robeson |date=1989 |publisher=Bodley Head |location=London |isbn=0370305752 |page=122}}</ref>

==Death==

Browne died on 21 January 1955 in [[Torquay]], [[England]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Maurice Browne, Founder of Little Theater in U.S. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-obituary-for-maurice-br/141618894/ |work=The Buffalo News|place=Buffalo, New York |date=January 21, 1955|page=25}}</ref>

==References==

American poet (1881–1955)

Maurice Browne
Maurice Brown, circa 1918
Born	(1881-02-12)12 February 1881
Died	21 January 1955(1955-01-21) (aged 73)
Resting place	Dartington church yard
Spouse	Ellen Van Volkenburg

Maurice Browne (12 February 1881 – 21 January 1955) was a man of the theatre in the United States and the United Kingdom. A poet, actor and theatre director, he has been credited, along with his then-wife Ellen Van Volkenburg, as the founder of the Little Theatre Movement in America through his work with the Chicago Little Theatre.^[1]

He was born in Reading, England, the son of the Rev. Frederick Herbert Browne, a graduate of Wadham College, Oxford and head of Ipswich School, and his wife Frances Anne Neligan, daughter of the Rev. Maurice Neligan D.D.^[2]^[3]^[4]

He was educated at Temple Grove School and Winchester College.^[5] In 1894 his father committed suicide, leaving four children. Frances moved to Eastbourne to run a school, and Maurice moved to Eastbourne College. From there he won a scholarship to Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he matriculated in Michaelmas Term 1900, having first joined up to the British Army and spent time in South Africa during the Second Anglo-Boer War. He graduated B.A. in 1903.^[6]^[7]

At Cambridge Browne struck up a friendship with Louis Wilkinson.^[8] He belonged to a poetic coterie with Harold Monro who became a close friend, Guy Noel Pocock and Herman Leonard Pass.^[9]^[10]^[11] He wrote no more poetry once he graduated.^[2] In 1904 Browne was teaching at St. Paul’s School, Darjeeling.^[7]

On his return to London, Browne became involved in printing and publishing. As a small press publisher he concentrated on verse.^[7]^[12] He ran the Samurai Press (active 1907–1909) with Harold Monro, who had married his sister Dorothy in 1901 (they divorced 1916); the name referenced A Modern Utopia by H. G. Wells.^[13]

Meeting Ellen Van Volkenburg at Florence when travelling in Italy, Browne went to Chicago to marry her in 1912. That year they adapted a space in the Fine Arts Building to create the Chicago Little Theatre.^[14] In 1921, Browne and Volkenburg acted in the performance of George Bernard Shaw‘s The Philanderer at the Cornish School playhouse.^[15] They ran the theatre for five years.^[16] They went on to found the department of drama at the Cornish School in Seattle in 1918.^[17]

At the opening night of the Theatre of the Golden Bough, Volkenburg had the title-role in Browne’s play, The Mother of Gregory, which played June 6, 7, and 14, 1924.^[18]

Browne’s greatest triumph came in 1929 when he produced Journey’s End, by R. C. Sherriff in London.^[19] The production was also highly profitable for him. He was able to invest in stakes in the Globe Theatre and Queen’s Theatre in London’s West End.^[20]

Browne died on 21 January 1955 in Torquay, England.^[21]

^ Browne, Maurice (1955). Too Late to Lament: An Autobiography. London: Gollancz. p. 128. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b Harbin, Billy J.; Marra, Kim; Schanke, Robert A. (2005). The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era. University of Michigan Press. pp. 73–76. ISBN 978-0-472-06858-6.
^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). “Browne, Rev. Frederick Herbert” . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
^ “Marriages”. Berkshire Chronicle. 4 January 1879. p. 8.
^ “Browne, Maurice”. Who’s Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Hibberd, D. (13 February 2001). Harold Monro: Poet of the New Age. Springer. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-230-59578-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c “Browne, Frederick Maurice (BRWN899FM)”. A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^ Powys, John Cowper; Gregg, Frances (1994). The Letters of John Cowper Powys to Frances Gregg. Cecil Woolf. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-900821-99-8.
^ Grant, Joy. Harold Monro and the Poetry Bookshop. University of California Press. p. 9.
^ “Pocock, Guy Noël (PCK899GN)”. A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^ “Pass, Herman Leonard (PS894HL)”. A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^ Kabatchnik, Amnon (2010). Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection : an Annotated Repertoire. Scarecrow Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-8108-6963-9.
^ Hibberd, Dominic. “Monro, Harold Edward (1879–1932)”. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35071. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
^ Pinkerton, Jan; Hudson, Randolph H. (2009). Encyclopedia of the Chicago Literary Renaissance. Infobase Publishing. p. 353. ISBN 978-1-4381-0914-5.
^ “Maurice Browne Players Please In Philanderer”. Seattle Union Record. Seattle, Washington. 18 July 1921. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
^ Wilmeth, Don B.; Bigsby, Christopher (28 July 1999). The Cambridge History of American Theatre. Vol. II. Cambridge University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-521-65179-0.
^ Cornish, Nellie C. (1964). Miss Aunt Nellie: The Autobiography of Nellie C. Cornish. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press. p. 109. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
^ “The Drama”. Dramatic Publishing Company. 15–16: 33. 1924. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
^ Browne, Maurice. Too Late to Lament: An Autobiography. London, Gollancz, 1955, pp. 306-309.
^ Duberman, Martin B. (1989). Paul Robeson. London: Bodley Head. p. 122. ISBN 0370305752.
^ “Maurice Browne, Founder of Little Theater in U.S.” The Buffalo News. Buffalo, New York. 21 January 1955. p. 25.

Chansky, Dorothy. Composing Ourselves: The Little Theatre Movement and the American Audience. Carbondale, Seattle, Southern Illinois University, 2004.
Cheney, Sheldon. The New Movement in the Theatre. New York, Mitchell Kennerley, 1914.

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