Mortimer, Hamlet, Othello, and Richard III followed.
On 27 Oct., as Jaffier in ‘Venice Preserved,’ to the Pierre of Macready, Phelps made his début at Covent Garden. This was succeeded by Othello to Macready's Iago. Difficulties followed, and Phelps, bound by his engagement for the next two years, was cast for secondary characters: Macduff, Cassius, First Lord in ‘As you like it,’ Dumont in ‘Jane Shore,’ Antonio in the ‘Tempest,’ Father Joseph (an original part) in ‘Richelieu,’ and Charles d'Albret in ‘Henry V.’ He was also seen in ‘Rob Roy.’ At the Haymarket (August 1839 to January 1840) he alternated with Macready the parts of Othello and Iago to the Desdemona of Miss Helen Faucit. His Othello was then and subsequently preferred to that of Macready, to which it was indeed superior. Master Walter in the ‘Hunchback’ and Jaques in ‘As you like it’ were also played.
In January 1840 Phelps, with Macready, Mrs. Warner, and Miss Faucit, was engaged for Drury Lane by W. J. Hammond, whose management soon proved a failure, and the season closed in March. During this period Phelps played Gabor to Macready's Werner, Darnley in ‘Mary Stuart,’ and Joseph Surface. Cast at the Haymarket in 1841 for Friar Laurence in ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ he fumed, resigned his engagement, and wrote to the ‘Spectator,’ giving his reasons for his action. During two months of 1841 he superintended at the Lyceum the performance of ‘Martinuzzi’ (the ‘Patriot’), by George Stephens, enacting the Cardinal Regent, Mrs. Warner being the Queen-Mother. The representation strengthened greatly the reputation of both players. After visiting the country, and ‘starring’ at the Surrey, he engaged with Macready for three years, reduced subsequently to two, at Drury Lane. Here he was seen in the first season as Antonio in the ‘Merchant of Venice,’ the Ghost in ‘Hamlet,’ and other characters. In the following season came Adam in ‘As you like it,’ Belarius in ‘Cymbeline,’ Stukeley, Gloucester in ‘Jane Shore,’ Hubert in ‘King John,’ Mr. Oakley in the ‘Jealous Wife,’ Leonato in ‘Much Ado about Nothing,’ &c. On 8 Feb. 1842 he was the original Captain Channel in Jerrold's ‘Prisoners of War;’ on 10 Dec. the original Lord Lynterne in Westland Marston's ‘Patrician's Daughter,’ and on 11 Feb. 1843 the original Lord Tresham in Browning's ‘Blot on the 'Scutcheon;’ 24 April saw him as the first Lord Byerdale in Knowles's ‘Secretary,’ and, 18 May, Dunstan in Smith's ‘Athelwold.’ At the Haymarket, meanwhile, he had been, in 1842, the first Almagro in Knowles's ‘Rose of Arragon.’ In the autumn of 1843 he played at Covent Garden, under Henry Wallack, Gaston de Foix in Boucicault's ‘Woman.’
During these years Phelps had risen steadily in public estimation. His portrait as Hubert was painted by Sir William Charles Ross [q. v.] for the queen. William Leman Rede [q. v.] declared his Almagro a magnificent piece of acting; and Jerrold, in ‘Punch,’ with characteristic ill-nature, declared that Phelps on the Haymarket stage had publicly presented Charles Kean with an extinguisher. Macready at the close of the engagement gave Phelps 300l., and tried vainly to secure him as a companion on a proposed American trip.
After some representations in the north of England, Phelps took advantage, in May 1844, of the removal by the legislature of the privileges of the patent theatres to open jointly with Mrs. Warner and Thomas Greenwood the theatre at Sadler's Wells. He was the first actor to make such an experiment, and while the poetical drama was at its lowest ebb in the theatres of the west end, he succeeded in filling the ‘little theatre’ in Islington, and in ‘making Shakespeare pay’ for nearly twenty years. This period of management constitutes the most enterprising and distinguished portion of Phelps's career, and his chief claim to distinction. He was an intelligent and spirited manager, and Sadler's Wells became a recognised home of the higher drama, and, to some extent, a training school for actors.
The experiment began on Monday, 27 May 1844, with ‘Macbeth,’ Phelps playing the Thane, and Mrs. Warner Lady Macbeth. The performance won immediate recognition. Later in the first season Phelps was seen in Othello, the Stranger, Mr. Oakley, Werner, Shylock, Sir Peter Teazle, Sir Anthony Absolute, Hamlet, Virginius, Julian St. Pierre in Knowles's ‘Wife,’ Melantius in the ‘Bridal,’ Sir Giles Overreach, King John, Luke in Massinger's ‘City Madam,’ Claude Melnotte, Don Felix in the ‘Wonder,’ Richard III in the original play of Shakespeare instead of that of Cibber, which had long held possession of the stage, Rover in ‘Wild Oats,’ Nicholas Flam in Buckstone's piece so named, Frank Heartall in the ‘Soldier's Daughter,’ Sir Edward Mortimer, and Cardinal Wolsey, and played in the ‘Priest's Daughter,’ by T. J. Serle. In many of these characters he had been seen before; one or two were wholly unsuited to him, and more than one were monopolised by Macready. Much hard work is, however, represented in these successive productions, all of them well supported by a company including George John Bennett [q. v.], Henry Marston, Jane Mordaunt (a sister of Mrs. Nisbett), and Miss
