| Chapter 1: | Mise-en-Scène |
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In November of 1783, Ryan sought to bring his company to Philadelphia, but owing to Quaker opposition, the Pennsylvania Assembly tabled his petition and there is no record of a performance. It is possible that, while pressing his petition in Philadelphia, Ryan arranged some “lectures” involving his company in sample performances, although there is no documentation of such. Ryan’s company seems to have disbanded by spring 1784, so the most likely date for Durang to see Roussell in Philadelphia would be some time in 1783.
His exposure to Roussell’s dancing excited the young Durang: “The pigeon wing [a jumping, beaten step] I never saw done by any other person, and I could not make that out from the front of the [theater] house” (11). Once Roussell began boarding with the Durangs, John must have pressed him for instruction, particularly with that troubling pigeon. He writes:
This brush with professionalism set John afire. He had been watching another performer at the Southwark, again unrecorded in chronicles of the time, whose show consisted of “a miscellaneous collection: transparencies, the magic lantern, sea fights in machinary, singing—all bad enough, but anything was thought great in those days” (12). Oddly, Durang writes that he forgot the man’s name, although this person gave him his first professional chance. Perhaps, in retrospect, this performer was an embarrassment to Durang. At the time, however, his curiosity