Kendal and his wife starred at and managed the Royal Court Theatre with John Hare. They then played at the Prince of Wales's Theatre under the management of the Bancrofts in "Diplomacy" by B. C. Stephenson and Clement Scott (1878, adapted from Sardou's "Dora"), among other plays. In 1879 they began a long association with John Hare as joint-managers of the St. James's Theatre, where they presented a large number of Arthur Wing Pinero plays, among many others. The Kendals restored the St. James's to popularity and helped to improve the respectability of the Victorian theatre, which had fallen into disrepute among the middle classes. They imposed a high moral code both on stage and behind the scenes. Some of the Kendals' other notable successes in the 1880s included "The Squire", "Impulse", "The Ironmaster" and "A Scrap of Paper". In 1888, however, the Hare and Kendal partnership ended.