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Allan Wilkie CBE (9 February 1878 – 7 January 1970) was an English Shakespearean actor of Scottish descent noted for his career in Australia. ==Biography == Born in Toxteth Park, Lancashire, he was educated at Liverpool High School and went to work in a merchant's office but became infatuated with the theatre after experiencing a performance by Osmond Tearle.〔http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120546b.htm〕 He trained in the companies of Ben Greet, Frank Benson and Beerbohm Tree. On 4 February 1904 he married an actress Iné de la Garde Cameron, whom he divorced a few years later. In 1905 he founded his own company, touring with ''The Merchant of Venice''. On 22 July 1909 he married Frediswyde Hunter-Watts (1887?–1951) who soon became his leading lady, billed as "Miss Hunter-Watts".〔 She was the daughter of the politician Hunter Watts. In 1911 his company played in India, followed by Ceylon, India,〔(Das Gupta, Hemendranath ''The Indian Stage vol. iv'' 1944 )〕 Singapore, British Malaya, Hong Kong, Japan in 1912〔Kaori Kobayashi ''Shakespeare and National Identity: Tsubouchi Shoyo and His “Authentic” Shakespeare Productions in Japan'' published in: Shakespeare, Volume 2, Issue 1 June 2006 , pp. 59 – 76〕 and the Philippines, returning to England in 1913, where he accepted an invitation to join a company in South Africa. He and his wife were there when World War I broke out,〔Hough, David ''A Dream of Passion'' His Majesty's Theatre Foundation, Perth 2004 ISBN 1-920843-09-4〕 so decided to continue to Australia where Frediswyde had relations.〔 Her brother, J. Hunter-Watts, had travelled with Wilkie in the East and in 1928 travelled to Australia to manage the company's finances.〔(''The Argus'' 6 February 1928 )〕 In 1915 they were playing ''Sweet Nell of Old Drury'' with the Nellie Stewart company that toured New Zealand for four months. In 1916 he joined George Marlow's Grand Shakespearean Company playing Shylock in ''The Merchant of Venice'' at "The Princess" in Sydney with his wife playing Portia, then ''As You Like It'' at "The Adelphi" in Melbourne playing Jaques, both to 'mixed reviews'.〔West, John ''Theatre in Australia'' Cassell Australia ISBN 0-7269-9266-6〕 and in 1920 formed the Allan Wilkie Shakespearean Company of thirty players who for eight years toured Australia giving around 14000 performances with his leading lady wife Miss (Frediswyde) Hunter-Watts.〔Wilde, W H ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' 2nd ed. ISBN 0-19-553381-X〕 He maintained a varied program: his company knew most of the Bard's plays and no production was played on consecutive nights. For instance, they performed thirteen plays at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth from April to May 1926.〔 A remarkable feature of their schedule was an annual Christmas season at the Theatre Royal, Hobart at a time when Tasmania was almost universally bypassed by touring companies. A serious setback occurred in June 1926, when the Geelong, Victoria Mechanics' Institute〔http://www.liveperformance.com.au/halloffame/allanwilkie2.html〕 burned down with all his wardrobes and what few props and scenery they carried. Within a short time £4000 was raised from donations〔(''Sydney Morning Herald'' 25 February 1927 )〕 and benefit performances,〔(''The Argus'' 14 July 1926 )〕 with Orient Shipping Line contributing a free return passage to London〔 so he could purchase new armour, wigs and wardrobes. On 22 January 1927 they were able to meet their annual commitment to Hobart!〔 From 1922 to 1924 he published ''The Shakespearean Quarterly'', sold in the foyer of theatres where they performed, claimed the only such magazine published in the British Empire. Hector Bolitho was editor for a short time.〔 He was awarded the CBE in May 1925, at the beginning of their season at the Theatre Royal, Brisbane. The honour was in recognition of his services to the theatre and, especially, education.〔http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/theatre/theatre_bib.html〕 The publicity resulted in an extended season of two months. (Wilkie was adept at extracting benefit for his Company from patronage of the wealthy and famous.)〔 Another lucrative venue was The Majestic, Newtown, where they ran extended seasons in 1928 and 1929. He disbanded his troupe in October 1930〔(''Sydney Morning Herald'' 4 October 1930 )〕 at the onset of the Great Depression, (though competition from the "talkies" would have contributed, as would the increasing percentage of his audiences who paid the greatly reduced students' admission.〔 He tried Restoration comedy (''School for Scandal'', ''The Jealous Wife'')〔(''Sydney Morning Herald'' 7 July 1930 )〕 and an Australian play – ''Governor Bligh'' by Doris Egerton Jones〔(''The Argus'' 19 September 1930 )〕 and the first Australian production of Noël Coward's ''Hay Fever'' at the Melbourne Tivoli〔(''The Argus'' 9 February 1931 )〕〔(''The Argus'' 28 February 1931 )〕〔(''The Argus 20 March 1931 )〕 and through Queensland as a double bill with ''Bird in Hand'' by John Drinkwater. They travelled to New Zealand, Canada and the United States with a low-budget two-hander "scenes from Shakespeare"〔 then retired to Scotland. Frediswyde died in 1951 after suffering chronic illness, and he remarried at age 87 and died at 91. He was often criticised for his declamatory style of acting, notably by ''The Triad'' which compared him unfavourably to his contemporary Gregan McMahon, but no-one ever doubted his sincerity and energy. "He travelled further and laboured harder to bring classic theatre to Australian audiences ... Without Wilkie, Australian theatre during World War I and after would have been the poorer." (John West, ''op cit.'')〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Allan Wilkie」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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