Theatre in the Victorian Age - Hardcover

Booth, Michael Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521343518 ISBN 13: 9780521343510

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1991

Synopsis

This book examines all major aspects of theater practice and dramatic literature of the Victorian period. Michael Booth's comprehensive survey explores the social and cultural context of the theater including theater management, the audience, architecture and production methods, acting and the job of the actor, as well as the drama itself. Within this framework, Booth discusses such topics as the effect on theater of population growth and the spread of the railway system, the typical organization of a Victorian theater company, the contribution to theater of several important actor-managers, the use of stage machinery and lighting instruments, and the stock company and rehearsal system. The volume also includes a chapter on sources, numerous previously unpublished illustrations, and a chronology. The result is a lively and informative account of the diversity, energy, and color of the Victorian stage, the whole period comprising one of the most fascinating and vigorous eras in the history of the English theater.

About this title

Book Description

A comprehensive survey explores the social and cultural context of the theater--including theater management, the audience, architecture and production methods, acting and the job of the actor, as well as the drama itself.

Review

"Booth's extensive knowledge of the field is evident throughout; he organizes a great amount of interesting information, and recounts it in a relaxed, conversational style." Essays in Theatre

"Booth's latest contribution to the field is both fascinating and authoritative... Both [Booth's book and Stephens's book, The Profession of the Playwright: British Theatre 1800-1900] will come to occupy well-deserved places as standard works of nineteenth-century social and theatre history." Victorian Studies

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0521343518
• ISBN 13: 9780521343510
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 238