Annie Horniman: A Pioneer in the Theatre

Born in 1860 Annie Horniman was the daughter of a wealthy tea merchant. She was allowed an unusual freedom for a young Victorian girl and studied at the Slade School of Art, learned to ride a bicycle, joined in the quest to learn occult mysteries and met W.B. Yeats who became a close friend. This friendship led her into the London Irish scene and the world of theatre. She used her personal wealth to fund new, experimental plays which led to the first performance of a Bernard Shaw play. Her next move was to Dublin and she generously helped the Irish Literary Theatre with free costumes, sharing their dreams of a theatre which she would fund. The Abbey Theatre opened its doors on 27 December 1904. She soon decided that Manchester would be the city where she would form a repertory theatre, producing new plays and old masterpieces. Ibsen and Shaw were central to her plans. In 1908 she bought the Gaiety Theatre which became the home of the first permanent repertory theatre in the country. Her theatre introduced the plays of Stanley Houghton and Alan Brighouse and she became an artistic and a business success, a successful woman in a man's world. She had London seasons and in 1912 she took her actors to Canada and America and wherever she went she gave talks on repertory theatre. In 1933 she was made a member of the Order of Companions of Honour and was delighted to receive her honour from King George V at Buckingham Palace. She died in 1937.