Actor, dramatist, entrepreneur, teacher, writer.
OVERVIEW
One of Australia's leading tent showmen of the early twentieth century, Philip Lytton is believed to have pioneered the touring of 'legitimate' theatre under canvas around Australia, beginning in 1907. By the time World War One broke out, he operated one of the two leading travelling tent show theatre companies in both this country and New Zealand, the other being run by Stanley McKay.
BIOGRAPHY
While little is yet known about Lytton's early life and career, he appears to have begun making a name for himself by 1900, with dramatic academies in Sydney and Melbourne. He also staged regular amateur theatricals in both cities, including plays by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, Oscar Wilde, and Henry Arthur Jones. In his article for the Theatre Magazine in 1915, Lytton recalls some of his most successful productions as being musical comedies such as The Runaway Girl and In Town (p.5). A 1905 report on Lytton's season at the Palace Theatre (Sydney), produced under the auspices of the Players' Club, indicates that the theatre had been filled for the entire two-week run and had subsequently been rewarded with a good profit. The magazine further notes, 'As this gentleman [Lytton] and his genial bands of Players devote much of their attention to the cause of charity, it is a pleasure to find that the public appreciate the Players' productions, which by the way, compare favourably with those presented by many professional companies' (The Theatre 1 October 1905, p.17). It was during his association with the Players' Club that he also became involved with other members in founding, in 1903, The Player: An Illustrated Journal Published Monthly in the Highest Interests of the Dramatic Art.
Reputedly inspired by Sarah Bernhardt's tour of America under canvas in the late 1880s, and also in response to medical advice that he should lead an open-air lifestyle (Theatre Magazine December 1915, p.3), Lytton conceived the idea of working Australia's agricultural show circuit without having to compete for the limited number of venues (often with insufficient seating) available in these regional centres. Although he was not the first to produce theatre under canvas in Australia, with E. I. Cole's Bohemian Dramatic Company having performed in tents in Sydney and Melbourne in 1903 and 1907 respectively, he was the first to undertake such a venture both in the capital cities and the regional areas of the country.
Lytton began his operations in 1907 with an initial outlay of some £1000 for the tent, costumes, and scenic art. Although Lytton admits to having lost at least the same amount of money during the first six months (largely due to unfavourable weather), by 1909 he had begun to firm his company's reputation in New South Wales and Queensland, thus establishing a base from which he could later successfully expand his operations. Indeed, he later put together three simultaneous touring companies under the Lytton banner, with each company operating full time for eight months of the year by 'feeding' off the show dates up until the difficult winter period.
During the first few years, Lytton starred opposite his wife, Madge Hope, before concentrating more on managing his companies and in dramatising his own works. Among those who were engaged to appear in Philip Lytton's Dramatic Players were George Edwards, Arthur Egan, Herbert Linden, T. Cosgrove (possibly Tom Cosgrove), and Gilbert Stallard. In later years, the company also occasionally featured high-profile guest perfomers, the most notable being Lily Dampier, Roy Redgrave, Lottie Lyell and Alfred Rolfe.
Among his most successful original productions were The Cup Winner (1907), The Man They Could Not Hang and The Girl From Outback (both 1912), and The Waybacks at Home and In Town (1915). Of these plays, the latter (better known simply as The Waybacks) became a long-running stage show and in 1918 was made into a popularly received film. Two of Lytton's other plays, The Cup Winner and The Man They Could Not Hang, were also adapted as motion pictures.
Little is yet known of Philip Lytton's career after 1923, when he sold his tent operations to George Sorlie. The only references identified to date are a 1933 copyright registration for a play called The Singing Gold Diggers and his small role in the 1936 film The Flying Doctor.
