Category Archives: Hartlepool

Troba at the Hartlepool Theatre of Varieties and Tynemouth Palace

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Troba was a German juggler and contemporary of Cinquevalli. According to this article in the Juggler’s Bulletin of July 1947 he even did some similar tricks – but his speciality was juggling rifles and firing them as he caught them.

He appeared at the Empress Theatre of Varieties in Hartlepool on 25 April 1904 with headline billing as “the phenomenal juggler”:

Troba at the Empress Theatre of Varieties Poster - From the Tyne and Wear Archives
From the Tyne and Wear Archives

It’s truly a night of variety though – as there’s also a photography competition on the bill!

Along with the poster we’re lucky to also have a programme from that evening with an elegant lady illustrated on the cover:

Troba at the Empress Theatre of Varieties Programme (Front Cover) - From the Tyne and Wear Archives
From the Tyne and Wear Archives

…and the running order and some marvellous advertisements inside; you need never wonder where to go for a French sailor hat ever again!

Troba at the Empress Theatre of Varieties Programme (Front Cover) - From the Tyne and Wear Archives
From the Tyne and Wear Archives

Just over four years later Troba was back in the North East – this time performing at the Tynemouth Palace. In this article from the Newcastle Weekly Journal and Courant from 12 June 1909 he’s “truly described as a “great juggler”” and he “provides many thrilling feats in which strength and smartness are combined”:

Troba at the Tynemouth Palace Article - From Newcastle City Library
From Newcastle City Library

The Zanettos and the Korosko Bale Sisters

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Firstly – my apologies for missing a post last time, hopefully this double dose will make up for it!

The Zanettos, “World-renowned jugglers and equilibrists” are advertised to appear at the Newcastle Empire on the front cover of the Gateshead Guardian of 31 August 1895:

The Zanettos at Newcastle Empire 31 August 1895 - Gateshead Guardian Advert
From Gateshead Central Library

As you can see from their review a week later (published on 7 September 1895) there’s scant information apart from describing their routine as “clever”, and misspelling their name:

The Zanettos at Newcastle Empire 7 Sept 1895 - Gateshead Guardian article
From Gateshead Central Library

However, a bit of Googling has revealed a real treat. http://www.theroyalzanettos.com/ is a treasure trove of information about the Bale family who were the core of the Zanettos. The Posters, Press and Programmes page has some great material that fans of this site will enjoy, but for me the best stuff is on http://www.theroyalzanettos.com/stoppressapril2010.htm – which includes an interview with Edwin Bale published while he was performing in Newcastle.

The interview describes how the performers came to impersonate Japanese jugglers (with some language that’s probably most kindly described as “of its time”) which leads me onto the second half of this weeks double-header. At the Gaiety Theatre of Varieties in Hartlepool, for the week of 11 August 1902 the Sisters Korosko Bale, “Double Japanese Jugglers, Balancers &c” appeared, along with their “splendid performing pigeons”:

Sisters Korosoko Bale Poster
From Tyne & Wear Archives

The name Bale associated with ‘Japanese’ juggling must mean that they’re linked to the Zanettos, but I’ve not been able to confirm the exact nature of the connection. However I did find the abstract for a academic conference presentation that refers to the Zanettos and the Korosko Bale troupe, and has some more pictures of the Zanettos. Scroll right down to the bottom of the page to find a link to the presentation slides.

I hope you enjoy all that linked material as much as I did.

The Brothers Hutchinson at Hartlepool Town Hall

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This week I’d like to show you a poster from right back in 1849, when the Brothers Hutchinson, “who are justly acknowledged to be the wonders of the age”, appeared at Hartlepool Town Hall for the nights of 31 May and 1 June.

The poster is a masterpiece of mid-Victorian pomp, describing both the luxurious props and crowned heads who’ve seen the act before:

The Brothers Hutchinson poster. From the Tyne and Wear Archives
From the Tyne and Wear Archives

Queen Victoria and most of her court seem to have been there at Drury Lane Theatre in London to see them perform the “Sports of Atlas” which included tossing “three German Silver Globes backwards and forwards to each other with the feet”, and they’re pictured in the background of the illustration while the brothers do their stuff:

The Brothers Hutchinson poster - close up. From the Tyne and Wear Archives
From the Tyne and Wear Archives

The Sports of Atlas are probably derived from the ‘Atlas Games’, which I’ll write more about as soon as I can work out which book I read about them in!

There’s another act to interest us jugglers on the poster. Mr Thompson, Decanter Equilibrist was part of the bill for those two nights. Steve Rawlings eat your heart out!

Le Diabelo at Empress Theatre of Varieties, Hartlepool

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On 15 October 1906 Le Diabelo appeared at the Empress Theatre of Varieties in Hartlepool. The content of his act is a bit of mystery. He’s billed as “Looping the Devil’s Wheel”, but as he is “riding on the outside of the wheel” we have to assume that it’s some kind of acrobatic apparatus, and the similarity of the name to our diabolo is coincidental.

Le Diabelo Poster - From the Tyne & Wear Archives
From the Tyne & Wear Archives

The extra treat that comes with this performance is the programme as well as the poster:

Empress Theatre of Varieties program, 15 October 1906 (outside) - From the Tyne and Wear Archives
From the Tyne and Wear Archives

While the outside is a strange mixture of adverts the inside gives us a really nice picture of what we could expect to see at the a provincial variety theatre in 1906 – click on the picture to see the detail:

Empress Theatre of Varieties program, 15 October 1906 (inside) - From the Tyne and Wear Archives
From the Tyne and Wear Archives