Madeleine Lucette Ryley

Madeleine Lucette Ryley (1889)

Ryley first appeared onstage at the age of fourteen in London, playing Queen of the Fairies in an annual Christmas pantomime. She performed roles in light opera companies, including Carte's Comedy Opera Company with which she toured the British provinces in 1878 in the chorus of The Sorcerer and H.M.S. Pinafore, both starring J. H. Ryley. She had roles in the short companion pieces, Two Sharps and a Flat (Mrs. Minor) and Ryley's own Congenial Souls (Clara).[3] Her American debut was in Princess Toto by W. S. Gilbert and Frederic Clay in Boston, and her first New York performance was in 1881 either in Solomon and Stephens's Billee Taylor with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, as Susan,[3] or in Reward of Virtue. In 1882, she appeared in a production of The Sorcerer at the Bijou Opera House in the soubrette role of Constance. Ryley received rave reviews for her performance. When the star of the production, Lillian Russell, fell ill, Ryley filled in as the leading role, Aline.[2] Ryley also played Constance at the Casino Theatre in 1893.[3] Ryley continued performing in operas with mixed success before transitioning to non-musical plays in 1891, performing the role of May Hoaford in The Power of the Press. Although the melodrama by Augustus Pitou and George H. Jessop was not a critical success, the production ran for over fifty performances before going on tour.[2]

Much of Ryley's early writing was done in secret. While she was still acting, Ryley was also writing short stories, drawing sketches for magazines, and she gained unaccredited writing experience with the McCaull Opera Company.[4] Ryley stated: "Colonel McCaul, finding I was quick at writing songs and fixing up scenes, employed me at what is termed 'hack work,' on the understanding that my name was never to appear. He explained that women were not supposed to have a sense of humor, and that a topical song or a comedian's scene coming from a woman would not be tolerated!"[5] Ryley penned her first comedy, Lady Jemima, in 1890 in two weeks.[6] Minnie Maddern bought the piece and eventually produced it.

Ryley's career as a professional dramatist had a strong sendoff in 1894 with Christopher, Jr.'s original Brooklyn production. According to Ryley, the play took "five weeks to write and five years to place." Christopher, Jr. is a comic play that mixes well-rounded characters, ridiculous circumstances and clever dialogue. This original cast starred John Drew Jr. and Maude Adams. The Critic declared that overall, a "merrier little piece … has not been presented here for a long time, and the fun has the conspicuous merit of being entirely wholesome." Christopher Jr. ran for 64 performances and continued in Drew's repertoire for some time. Americans found Christopher Jr. to be a riotous comedy, but Londoners, when the play was performed as Jedbury Junior, read it as a domestic drama. The play achieved commercial success in both countries.[7]

Poster for Mice and Men on Broadway, starring Annie Russell (1903)

In 1902, Ryley was writing and directing new works while productions of her plays Mice and Men and Jedbury Junior were receiving tours and revivals, respectively. By 1907, Ryley had either quit writing plays or simply could not interest anyone in her later work. By this time, she had written 27 plays. The Boston Transcript described her plays and position in the dramatic profession as follows: "These were all clean, wholesome comedies, and she scored heavily, for she proved, in contradistinction to many of her contemporaries, that American audiences could be entertained and amused by Anglo-Saxon themes and witty comedy as readily as those of Latin origin with their salacious plots and suggestive dialogue. Indeed, as far as women playwrights are concerned, she now has the field almost to herself."[3]

1904 benefit performance of W.S. Gilbert's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with Ryley as Ophelia (far right, seated)

Although semi-retired, Ryley still performed occasionally, including in a 1904 benefit matinee at London's Garrick Theatre, where she played Ophelia in W. S. Gilbert's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.[3] She remained active in the theatre community until the 1920s and served as one of several vice-presidents of the Actresses' Franchise League from its formation in 1918 with the passage of the Woman Suffrage Act, speaking regularly for the league at open-air meetings.[8]

When asked why women should have the right to vote, Ryley replied, "[L]ooking at it from the standpoint of common sense, I think it necessary for the progress of humanity – necessary as the means to an end. Women must be educated to their responsibilities, and as long as the Vote is denied them they will remain uneducated. My point of view is impersonal and altruistic."[9] Despite Ryley's work with the Woman Suffrage Movement, she did not write suffrage drama. She believed that such works risked trivializing complex political arguments.[1]