The Gladiator (1831 play)
| The Gladiator | |
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| Written by | Robert Montgomery Bird |
| Date premiered | 26 September 1831 |
| Place premiered | New York City |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | Thracian slave revolt |
| Genre | Melodrama |
| Setting | Rome and parts of Italy, 73 B.C. |
The Gladiator is a tragic melodrama in five acts written by Robert Montgomery Bird originally starring Edwin Forrest. It first premiered on September 26, 1831 at the Park Theatre in New York City.
This theatrical piece was written at the request of Edwin Forrest, an American actor seeking to further his career. He wanted to solidify his fame by acquiring the rights to perform in plays customized to highlight his talents and physical attributes so he devised a contest to encouraged dramaturgs to author new works in return for a cash price. Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags, a play by John Augustus Stone won Forrest's inaugural play prize in 1829. A huge success, Metamora inspired Forrest to continue offering the prize. Robert Montgomery Bird, a doctor without "an all-consuming passion for medicine," hearing of the prize, penned and submitted his first play, the blank verse tragedy Pelopidas, or The Fall of the Polemarchs. Although Pelopidas won the prize, it was not produced or published until 1919, possibly because Pelopidas does not dominate the action of his play in the way Metamora managed and therefore failed to show off Forrest's abilities adequately. However, Forrest found it well written and encouraged a second submission by Bird. The following year, Bird won Forrest's prize a second time with that play that would become his most impactful, The Gladiator. Bird's brother Henry, in a letter advised Robert to continue with The Gladiator as Spartacus was "altogether more suited to Forrest's Roman figure & actions." In fact, it turned out to be the perfect vehicle to showcase Forrest’s “muscular acting style” . Thanks to The Gladiator, Forrest became “the most famous American actor of his day”.
In a nutshell, The Gladiator tells the story of a man yearning to live freely and removed from the oppression of totalitarian masters. Spartacus is a gladiator who initially refuses to fight because he will not “slay a man for the diversion of Romans”. The play opens with Phasarius, a Thracian slave and other gladiators decrying the position of Rome and considering a revolt against the state left vulnerable by its colonizing and war-mongering generals. However, upon heading from his lanista, Bracchius, that a newly captured Thracian gladiator is an even better fighter than himself, Phasarius resolves to postpone his plans for coup. This newly captured slave is Spartacus, who agrees to battle so that he may free his also captured wife and child. He barters his services, “I will serve you Better than slave e'er served”, in exchange for his family, “Keep us together”. Upon meeting each other in the arena of the amphitheater, however, Phasarius and Spartacus recognize each other as brothers, refuse to fight and incite their fellow gladiators to revolt. They proclaim, “Death to the Roman fiends, that make their mirth Out of the groans of bleeding misery! Ho, slaves, arise! it is your hour to kill! Kill and spare not -For wrath and liberty!-”
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