Stock Company

Stock Company, name applied in the English theatre of the 1850s to a permanent troupe of actors attached to one theatre or group of theatres and operating on a true repertory system, with a nightly change of bill, to distinguish it from the newly emergent touring companies. The system was, however, in use long before, and the term could have been applied to the companies at Covent Garden and Drury Lane from the Restoration onwards, to the 18th-century circuit companies in the English provinces, and to the resident companies of the early 19th century in the larger towns of the USA. In both countries the stock company found itself threatened by the establishment of the long run and the touring company, which in the 1880s, helped by cheap and easy railway transport, finally triumphed. The stock company then ceased to exist, the last in London being that of Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre. It had been an excellent training-ground for young actors, combining a variety of stage experience with some element of security, functions that were to some extent taken over by the repertory theatres.

Each player in the old stock company undertook some special ‘line of business’, though usually ready to play anything else when required. The recognized leader of the troupe was the Tragedian, who played Hamlet and Macbeth and might appear also in serious comedy. The Juvenile Tragedian played Laertes or Macduff, combining such roles with light comedy. The Juvenile Leads played the young lovers and the youthful heroes and heroines. The Old Man and the Old Woman appeared in such parts as Sir Anthony Absolute in Sheridan's The Rivals and the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, while the Heavy Father (or Heavy Lead) played tyrants in tragedy and from the 1830s onwards villains in melodrama. The Heavy Woman played Lady Macbeth or Emilia in Othello. The Low Comedian, who ranked next in importance to the Tragedian, played leading comic parts of a broad, farcical, or clownish type, together with minor roles in tragedy, and the Walking Lady and Gentleman played the secondary parts, such as Careless in Sheridan's The School for Scandal. They were usually beginners, and were poorly paid. General Utility, or simply Utility, also poorly paid, played minor roles in every type of play; the Supernumerary, or Super, was engaged merely to walk on, had nothing to say, and was not paid at all. The term Super is still used in the theatre for members of a crowd; a small, individualized part with few or no lines is now called a Walk-on; the term Juvenile Lead persists only in an ironic or pejorative sense; but Heavy Father has become part of the language in general. Apart from the above, the company might contain such specialized players as the First Singer, the First Dancer, the Countryman, or the Singing Chambermaid. The term ‘summer stock’ is still used in the USA for summer theatres.