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STEPHEN PHILLIPS (1864-1915)

The following biography was originally published in The British and American Drama of Today. Barrett H. Clark. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1915. p. 97.

Stephen Phillips was born at Somertown, England in 1867. After receiving his primary education at Peterborough, he joined F.R. Benson's company, in which he acted for some years. For a while he adopted the profession of army tutor, then devoted himself entirely to the writing of plays and poetry.

Phillips [was] a phenomenon in the English theater of [his day] ... In a day when the theater public [would] not listen to poetry, he dared to be poetic, but he likewise had the good sense to mix with his poetry a generous infusion of truly dramatic qualities. E.E. Hale, Jr., [once wrote] he "may succeed on the stage, but it will be in spite of his poetry and not by reason of it."


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