# J. Beresford Fowler

Jack Beresford Fowler (21 July 1893 – 17 July 1972), generally referred to as Beresford Fowler or J. Beresford Fowler, was an Australian actor and stage director, remembered for his little theatre productions in Melbourne.

## History

Fowler was born in Darlinghurst or Ultimo, Sydney, youngest of four sons of musician Frank Harry Fowler (c. 1857 – 9 December 1893) and Fannie Adele Fowler, née Ellard (c. 1861 – 10 August 1928), better known as the actress Ethel Adele, whose sister Ada Kate Ellard married Garnet Walch.
He was only a few months old when his father died, and his mother, though not well provided for, brought up her four boys on her own. In 1896 she took her sons to live in Melbourne, living in various suburbs — Elsternwick, Brighton, Armadale and Hawksburn — taking in boarders and supplementing whatever income by producing Gilbert & Sullivan operettas for high schools. She also appeared on stage for Gregan McMahon, so Jack got to see many stage productions, albeit involuntarily. One of his earliest memories was of Bert Royle's pantomime Djin Djin starring Florrie Young at the Princess Theatre in 1896. He was quite deaf, so had no talents as a singer. He was educated at Hawksburn State School (closed 1993), and after leaving found employment as a dentist's assistant.
Fowler got a start in theatre with Gregan McMahon's amateur company 1911–1914, playing alongside medical student F. Kingsley Norris in various dramas, notably as Foldal in Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman. On one occasion they shared the stage with Nellie Melba. Other notable amateurs with McMahon around that time were Doris Fitton, Jack Cussen, son of Judge Cussen, and Louie Dunn, teacher of Irene Mitchell.
In 1911 Bert Bailey, Edmund Duggan and Julius Grant combined to form the Bert Bailey Dramatic Company, and leased King's Theatre from William Anderson, and Fowler joined the company. He played Billy Bearup in a touring production of On Our Selection and back at King's Theatre in The Squaw Man on 22 April 1916.
He was living with his mother at 94 Hotham Street, East St Kilda, Victoria when he enlisted with the First AIF in April 1916, and served as a private in France, returning to Australia in 1919. He rejoined Bailey. In 1923 he joined Allan Wilkie's company, playing in Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, and others.
Meanwhile he assembled an independent amateur company, who performed Darnley's comedy Facing the Music from 8 January 1921 at The Playhouse. Audience included members of the 3rd Battalion Pioneers Ibsen's Ghosts followed on 27 September 1922.
He became associated with the Australian Institute of Arts and Literature (1921–1927), a Melbourne club for the Arts élite whose existence rose and fell with the presidency of Sir Robert Garran. A dramatic group was formed within the organisation which, led by Fowler, presented several dramas, one at the clubroom above or adjacent the Palace Theatre overlooking Bourke Street, and another at The Playhouse. The Institute appears not to have sponsored any further productions after 1922.
In 1925, with no backing and £100 from his own savings, Fowler founded The Little Art Theatre Company, often referred to as the Little Art Company or Little Art Theatre. For four years they kept up a heavy schedule of challenging productions, mostly on the minuscule Queen's Hall stage, to generally warm praise from critics. In 1929 they turned professional, with Fowler and Dudley Riddick (who had been with the company several years) as joint directors, and business manager Laurence Walter, as The Art Theatre Players, and that February opened in Hobart. The travelling cast was four men and four women, with Berta Howden pianist. Despite good reviews the tour was a financial failure.
| Opened on | Title | Author | Venue | Comments |
| 8 Jul 1922 | John Gabriel Borkman | Ibsen | The Playhouse | for I.A.L. |
| 7 Dec 1922 | Futurity | Adrian Stephen | Clubrooms | for I.A.L. |
| 16 Sep 1925 | A Doll's House | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 14 Sep 1925 | Candida | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 26 Oct 1925 | Hedda Gabler | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 29 Oct 1925 | Rutherford and Son | Githa Sowerby | Queen's Hall | |
| 31 Oct 1925 | Candida | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 4 Nov 1925 | Ghosts | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 22 Feb 1926 | Rutherford and Son | Sowerby | Queen's Hall | "continual improvement" |
| 25 Feb 1926 | Hindle Wakes | Stanley Houghton | Queen's Hall | |
| 1 Mar 1926 | The Master Builder | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | Melbourne premiere |
| 3 Mar 1926 | A Doll's House | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 6 Mar 1926 | Candida | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 11 Mar 1926 | Man and Superman | Shaw | The Playhouse | Ruth Conabere was singled out for special praise |
| 18 Mar 1926 | The Master Builder | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 18 May 1926 | A Doll's House | Ibsen | The Playhouse | |
| 25 May 1926 | Ghosts | Ibsen | The Playhouse | |
| 29 May 1926 | The Wild Duck | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | Melbourne premiere |
| 30 May 1926 | John Gabriel Borkman | Ibsen | The Playhouse | |
| 17 Jun 1926 | Hindle Wakes | Houghton | Queen's Hall | |
| 21 Jun 1926 | Hedda Gabler | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 17 Jul 1926 | Man and Superman | Shaw | The Playhouse | |
| 22 Jul 1926 | Major Barbara | Shaw | The Playhouse | |
| 21 Nov 1926 | The Fires of St. John | Sudermann | Queen's Hall | |
| 6 Jun 1928 | Miss Julie | Strindberg | Queen's Hall | Australian premiere |
| 6 Jun 1928 | How He Lied to Her Husband | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 16 Dec 1926 | Windows (1922 play) | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | Melbourne premiere |
| 24 Dec 1926 | A Doll's House | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 1 Jan 1927 | Caste | T. W. Robertson | Queen's Hall | |
| 15 Jan 1927 | Windows | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | |
| 10 Feb 1927 | Fanny's First Play | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 17 Mar 1927 | The Seagull | Chekhov | Queen's Hall | |
| 4 Jun 1927 | Pygmalion | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 10 Aug 1927 | Mrs Warren's Profession | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 5 Sep 1927 | The Wild Duck | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 7 Sep 1927 | Windows | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | |
| 21 Nov 1927 | The Fires of St. John | Sudermann | Queen's Hall | |
| 1 Dec 1927 | Joy | Galsworthy | Saint Peter's Hall | |
| 8 Dec 1927 | Major Barbara | Shaw | Saint Peter's Hall | |
| 2 Mar 1928 | The Family Man | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | Melbourne premiere |
| 20 Mar 1928 | You Never Can Tell | Shaw | ASH | |
| 4 Apr 1928 | Candida | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 12 Apr 1928 | Dead Timber | Louis Esson | Queen's Hall | |
| 12 Apr 1928 | Disturber of Pools | Furnley Maurice | Queen's Hall | on same bill |
| 18 April 1928 | Man and Superman | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 5 May 1928 | The Taming of the Shrew | Shakespeare | The Playhouse | in modern dress |
| 10 May 1928 | The Master Builder | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 15 May 1928 | The Taming of the Shrew | Shakespeare | The Playhouse | |
| 6 June 1928 | Miss Julie | Strinberg | Queen's Hall | Australian premiere |
| 20 Jun 1928 | Fanny's First Play | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 7 Jul 1928 | Rosmersholm | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 19 Sep 1928 | Loyalties | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | production criticised |
| 8 Oct 1928 | Heartbreak House | Shaw | Queen's Hall | Australian premiere |
| 15 Nov 1928 | The Whiteheaded Boy | Robinson | Queen's Hall | |
| 22 Nov 1928 | E. & O. E. | Eliot Crawshay-Williams | Queen's Hall | "Grand Guignol farce" |
| 22 Nov 1928 | The Boon | Chekhov | Queen's Hall | on the same bill |
| 20 Dec 1928 | The Vortex | Noël Coward | Queen's Hall | Australian premiere |
| 26 Dec 1928 | The Rat Trap | Coward | Queen's Hall | |
| 22 Feb 1929 | Pygmalion | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 27 Feb 1929 | The Doctor's Dilemma | Shaw | Queen's Hall | Their 41st play |
| 9 March 1929 | Windows | Galsworthy | Theatre Royal, Hobart | Debut as a professional company |
| 13 Mar 1929 | The Rat Trap | Coward | Theatre Royal, Hobart | |
| 16 Mar 1929 | Candida | Shaw | Theatre Royal, Hobart | |
| 21 Mar 1929 | The Fires of St. John | Sudermann | Theatre Royal, Hobart | |
| 25 Mar 1929 | The Vortex | Coward | Theatre Royal, Hobart | |
| 28 Mar 1929 | Pygmalion | Shaw | Theatre Royal, Hobart | with "extras" from the Hobart Repertory Society |
| 8 Apr 1929 | Candida | Shaw | National Theatre, Launceston | audience reduced due to floods |
| 10 Apr 1929 | Windows | Galsworthy | National Theatre, Launceston | "adequately performed" |
| 22 Apr 1929 | Windows | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | |
| 29 Apr 1929 | Candida | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 8 May 1929 | The Rat Trap | Coward | Queen's Hall | |
| 22 May 1929 | Loyalties | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | improvement noted |
| 7 Aug 1929 | Chains | Elizabeth Baker | Queen's Hall | |
| 14 Aug 1929 | Miss Julie | Strindberg | Queen's Hall | |
| 20 Sep 1929 | The Pincher Pinched | Furnley Maurice | Queen's Hall | |
| 20 Sep 1929 | Peer Gynt (scene) | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | on the same bill |
| 26 Sep 1929 | The Round Table | Robinson | Queen's Hall | |
| 31 Oct 1929 | Justice | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | |
| 4 Dec 1929 | The Round Table | Robinson | Queen's Hall | |
| 12 Dec 1929 | Strife | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | |
| 4 Jan 1930 | Strife | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | |
| 15 Jan 1930 | Justice | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | |
| 22 Jan 1930 | The Vortex | Coward | Queen's Hall | |
| 1 Feb 1930 | Heartbreak House | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 19 Feb 1930 | Chains | Elizabeth Baker | Queen's Hall | |
| 27 Feb 1930 | Fallen Angels | Coward | Queen's Hall | Australian premiere |
| 27 Mar 1930 | Passers By | Haddon Chambers | Queen's Hall | Production by Victor Wiltshire |
| 5 Apr 1930 | A Doll's House | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 3 May 1930 | Rutherford and Son | Sowerby | Queen's Hall | |
| 7 May 1930 | John Gabriel Borkman | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | praised |
| 31 May 1930 | Pygmalion | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 4 Jun 1930 | Man and Superman | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 11 Jun 1930 | Easy Virtue | Coward | Queen's Hall | Australian premiere |
| 23 Jul 1930 | Mrs Warren's Profession | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 26 Jul 1930 | The Fires of St. John | Sodermann | Queen's Hall | |
| 14 Aug 1930 | Widowers' Houses | Shaw | Queen's Hall | Australian premiere |
| 17 Sep 1930 | Mrs Warren's Profession | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 29 Sep 1930 | The Affairs of Anatol | Schnitzler | Queen's Hall | |
| 22 Jan 1931 | The Fugitive | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | hugely popular |
| 4 Feb 1931 | Joy | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | hugely popular |
| 6 May | Candida | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 20 May | The Rat trap | Coward | Queen's Hall | |
| 27 May | Greater Love | Fowler | Queen's Hall | under the auspices of Sir John Monash and Albert Jacka VC. |
| 22 Jul 1931 | A Family Man | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | |
| 29 Jul 1931 | The Wild Duck | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 28 Oct 1931 | Fallen Angels | Coward | Queen's Hall | |
| 1 Nov 1931 | The Queen Was in the Parlour | Coward | Queen's Hall | Melbourne premiere |
| 8 Nov 1931 | The Pillars of Society | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | Melbourne premiere |
| 6 Jan 1932 | Easy Virtue | Coward | Queen's Hall | |
| 13 Jan 1932 | The Vortex | Coward | Queen's Hall | |
| 6 Feb 1932 | Mesalliance | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |
| 11 Feb 1932 | The Queen Was in the Parlour | Coward | Queen's Hall | |
| 18 Feb 1932 | The White Blackbird | Robinson | Queen's Hall | |
| 27 Feb 1932 | The Wild Duck | Ibsen | Queen's Hall | |
| 5 Mar 1932 | Windows | Galsworthy | Queen's Hall | |
| 25 Jan 1933 | Home Chat | Coward | Queen's Hall | |
| 26 Jan 1933 | Pygmalion | Shaw | Queen's Hall | |

### Other interests

He was a prominent member of the Play Lovers' Club, which read Chekhov's The Seagull in August 1926.
Fowler produced plays for other amateur groups, — Sunset by Jerome K. Jerome for the Old Wesley Collegians' Dramatic Society
He produced W. W. Jacobs' The Warming Pan as a radio play on station 3LO in 1930.
He helped found a repertory theatre in Bendigo 1930.
In 1932 he produced plays at Ballarat.
He has been credited as founder and conductor of the Brisbane Liedertafel.

### As playwright

In 1910 Fowler wrote a play about Robert Clive, which he sent to Gerard Coventry, a producer for J. C. Williamson's, which was not accepted, nor was his second, a dramatization of The Count of Monte Cristo. Coventry again returned the manuscript, with the advice to "persevere . . . and never give up or lose heart".
In 1920 he registered his play The Dame of Corbie for copyright purposes.
At an all-Australian programme 12 April 1928 he staged his own A Heroine of Russia (1916)
Greater Love, a "comedy-drama of the war, the stage and school life", loosely adapted from his own novel, The Elusive Ideal.
A Suit of Clothes, play adapted from his own short story.

## Assessments

   Everyone with a knowledge of the theatre is aware that the producer's skill or the lack of it makes or mars the play. To obtain a right effect at the right moment is part of the producer's job. To obtain a well-balanced ensemble is another . . . How Mr Fowler works his miracles at the Queen's Hall is beyond my comprehension. Almost as well attempt Hamlet in a Punch and Judy theatre.