Dramatic Table Talk, or Scenes, Situations & Adventures, Serious & Comic, in Theatrical History & Biography Signed R. Ryan

Dramatic Table Talk, Or Scenes, Situations & Adventures, Serious & Comic, In Theatrical History & Biography Signed R. Ryan by Richard Ryan is a nineteenth?century compendium of theatre lore, anecdotes, and biographical sketches. The work presents a rich miscellany gathered by an editor with a passion for the stage, including Preface and reflections on acting by notable figures such as M. Talma, and a wide array of entries on theatres, actors, playwrights, and performances from across Europe and Britain. Contents span the origins of drama in Spain and France, discussions of declamation, costume, and stagecraft, and biographies or portraits of celebrated actors like Lekain, Garrick, Barry, Siddons, Kean, Kemble, and Master Betty, interwoven with anecdotes about theatre management, prologues and epilogues, pantomime, and the theatre’s social and political patterings. The two volumes assemble a panoramic panorama of theatrical life, mixing homage, history, and humor, with a collector’s attention to episodes, performances, and luminaries of the stage.