Shakespeare and the Victorian Stage

The contributions to this book constitute a concerted account of the place of Shakespeare in the Victorian theatre.

Richard Foulkes (Edited by)

9780521089531, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 November 2008

332 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.49 kg

The contributions to this book constitute a concerted account of the place of Shakespeare in the Victorian theatre and the cultural life of the country in the nineteenth century. They explore the changing styles of acting and staging used for Shakespeare's plays by Macready, Charles Kean, the Irvings, Ellen Terry and Beerbohm Tree, and examine Shakespeare's influence on Victorian dramatists (Sheridan Knowles, Albery and W.S. Gilbert) and the relationship between the stage and the allied arts of painting (David Scott, the Pre-Raphaelites and Alma-Tadema) and music (Sullivan). During Queen Victoria's reign Shakespeare's plays attracted new audiences from the court at Windsor to such rapidly expanding conurbations as Leicester and Sheffield. In France, Germany, Italy and the New World, Shakespeare effectively became an ambassador of Britain's growing power and influence. The book develops a fascinating and well-illustrated account of these changes.

Part I. Shakespeare in the Picture Frame: 1. Artists and Stage Designers W. Moelwyn Merchant
2. David Scott's Queen Elizabeth Viewing the Performance of the 'Merry Wives of Windsor' in the Globe Theatre James Fowler
3. Charles Kean's King Richard II: A Pre-Raphelite drama Richard Foulkes
4. Stage Costume: Historical Verisimilitude and Stage Convention Marion Jones
Part II. Shakespeare and the Lyceum Dynasty: 5. Pictorial Acting and Ellen Terry Michael R. Booth
6. Mercutio as Romeo: William Terriss in Romeo and Juliet George Rowell
7. 'Weirdness that lifts and colours all': The Secret Self of Henry Irving Peter Thompson
8. The Criminal as Actor: H. B. Irving as Criminologist and Shakespearean Cary M. Mazer
Part III. Shakespeare Ancient and Modern: 9. The Lear of Private Life: Interpretations of King Lear in the Nineteenth Century J. S. Bratton
10. Macready's Production of Cymbeline Carol J. Carlisle
11. The Imperial Theme Ralph Berry
Part IV. Shakespeare as a Contemporary: 12. James Sheridan Knowles: The Victorian Shakespeare? Christopher Murray
13. Victorian Imitations of and Variations on A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest Jane W. Stedman
14. Sullivan and Shakespeare Arthur Jacobs
Part V. Shakespeare as a Foreign Dramatist: 15. The 'Shakespeare-Stage' in Nineteenth-Century Germany Simon Williams
16. Shakespeare on French Stages in the Nineteenth Century Christopher Smith
17. Shakespeare and the Italian Players in Victorian London Kenneth Richards
Part VI. Shakespeare in the provinces: 18. Shakespeare in a Victorian Provincial Stock Company Arnold Hare
19. The Popular Audience for Shakespeare in Nineteenth-Century Leicester Jeremy Crump
20. Charles Dillon: A Provincial Tragedian Kathleen Barker.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]