An Illustrated History of British Theatre and Performance
Volume Two - From the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Age
- 848 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
An Illustrated History of British Theatre and Performance
Volume Two - From the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Age
About This Book
An Illustrated History of British Theatre and Performance chronicles the history and development of theatre from the Roman era to the present day. As the most public of arts, theatre constantly interacted with changing social, political and intellectual movements and ideas, and Robert Leach's masterful work restores to the foreground of this evolution the contributions of women, gay people and ethnic minorities, as well as the theatres of the English regions, and of Wales and Scotland.
Highly illustrated chapters trace the development of theatre through major plays from each period; evaluations of playwrights; contemporary dramatic theory; acting and acting companies; dance and music; the theatre buildings themselves; and the audience, while also highlighting enduring features of British theatre, from comic gags to the use of props.
Continuing on from the Enlightenment, Volume Two of An Illustrated History of British Theatre and Performance leads its readers from the drama and performances of the Industrial Revolution to the latest digital theatre. Moving from Punch and Judy, castle spectres and penny showmen to Modernism and Postdramatic Theatre, Leach's second volume triumphantly completes a collated account of all the British Theatre History knowledge anyone could ever need.
Frequently asked questions
Information
Part one
Theatre and the Industrial Revolution
Timeline
Society and politics | Theatre | |
1760 | George III accedes to the throne | |
1763 | Half price riots: Drury Lane, Covent Garden | |
1764 | Hargreavesâs spinning jenny | |
1765 | Wattâs steam engine | |
1769 | Garrickâs Shakespeare Jubilee | |
1770 | The Spouters Companion published | |
1773 | Boston Tea Party | |
1776 | American Declaration of Independence | |
1779 | Astleyâs Amphitheatre opens | |
1780 | Gordon Riots | |
1781 | Stage debut of Joseph Grimaldi, aged two | |
1782 | Royal Circus opens | |
1783 | Pitt the Younger Prime Minister | |
1786 | Trial of Warren Hastings | |
1787 | Royalty Theatre opens | |
1789 | Fall of the Bastille | |
1790 | Third Anglo-Mysore War, India | |
1791 | Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man Louis XVI flees, but is captured | Charles Dibdinâs Sans Souci Theatre opens |
1792 | Hastings acquitted | Holcroft, The Road to Ruin |
1793 | Execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette Committee of Public Safety Murder of Marat France declares war on Britain | Burke, The Ward of the Castle |
1794 | Danton and Robespierre executed End of the Terror Habeas Corpus suspended William Blake, Songs of Experience | Holcroft, Loveâs Frailties |
1797 | Mutinies at Spithead and the Nore | Lewis, The Castle Spectre |
1798 | Battle of the Nile Wordsworth and Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads | Richardson first shows at Bartholomew Fair |
1799 | Napoleon Bonaparte becomes First Consul Final defeat of Tipu Sultan in fourth Anglo-Mysore War | |
1800 | Highland clearances begin | |
1801 | Pitt resigns Addington Prime Minister | |
1802 | Peace of Amiens | Holcroft, A Tale of Mystery |
1803 | War between Britain and France resumes | |
1804 | Pitt becomes Prime Minister again Napoleon becomes Emperor of France | Sadlerâs Wells first aquatic production, The Siege of Gibraltar |
1805 | Battle of Trafalgar | Master Betty appears at Drury Lane and Covent Garden |
1806 | Death of Pitt the Younger First steam-operated textile mill opens in Manchester | Sans Pareil and Olympic Theatres open Harlequin and Mother Goose, Covent Garden |
1807 | Slave trade made illegal | |
1808 | Covent Garden burns down | |
1809 | Drury Lane burns down OP Riots Elliston renames Royal Circus Surrey Theatre Death of Thomas Holcroft | |
1811 | Regency begins First Luddite disturbances | |
1812 | War between Britain and USA begins Napoleon invades Russia | Mrs Siddons retires |
1813 | Pocock, The Miller and His Men | |
1814 | Treaty of Ghent Congress of Vienna | |
1815 | Battle of Waterloo Treaty of Vienna Corn Laws passed | Coal Hole opens |
1816 | Scott, The Old Oak Chest | |
1817 | Drury Lane Theatre lit by gas | |
1818 | Mary Shelley, Frankenstein | Coburg Theatre opens |
1819 | Peterloo massacre | Mme Vestris in Giovanni in London Sans Pareil becomes Adelphi Theatre Moncrieff, The Lear of Private Life Elliston manager of Drury Lane |
1820 | Death of George III: George IV accedes Cato Street conspiracy | Planché, The Vampire |
1821 | Death of Napoleon | Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry |
1823 | Moncrieff, Cataract of the Ganges Joseph Grimaldi retires | |
1826 | Ira Aldridge debut on British stage | |
1828 | Duke of Wellington Prime Minister | Buckstone, Luke the Labourer |
1829 | Jerrold, Black-Eyâd Susan | |
1830 | Death George IV: William IV accedes William Cobbett, Rural Rides | Mme Vestris manager of the Olympic Charles Kemble prosecutes Tottenham Street Theatre |
1831 | âCaptain Swingâ riots | Taylor, Swing, or Who Are the Incendiaries? |
1832 | Reform Act | Walker, The Factory Lad Parliamentary Select Committee under Bulwerâs chairmanship |
1833 | Dramatic Authors Act death of Edmund Kean | |
1834 | Tolpuddle Martyrs transported Robert Peel Prime Minister | |
1835 | Haines, My Poll and My Partner Joe | |
1836 | Dickens, Pickwick Papers begins | Death of John Richardson |
1837 | Death of William IV: Queen Victoria accedes | Death of Joseph Grimaldi |
1838 | Polack, St Clair of the Isles Sam Wild takes control of âOld Wildâsâ | |
1839 | Charter rejected by Parliament | Vestris-Matthews management at Covent Garden |
1840 | Bolton Star Music Hall opens | |
1841 | Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, opens | |
1842 | Charter again rejected by Parliament | Pitt, The String of Pearls Renton Nicholson begins âJudge and Juryâ shows |
1843 | Theatres Regulation Act | |
1847 | Covent Garden becomes Italian Opera House | |
1848 | âYear of Revolutionsâ Charter again rejected by Parliament | |
1849 | Canterbury Music Hall opens |
Chapter 1: The rise of the âminorsâ
Britain divided
The Industrial Revolution and âthe making of the working classâ
Political storms
Thomas Holcroft
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Title
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Preface
- Part one: Theatre and the Industrial Revolution
- Part two: Romantic theatre
- Part three: Modernist theatre
- Part four: Commercial theatre
- Part five: Popular theatres
- Part six: Subsidised theatre
- Part seven: Postdramatic theatre
- Glossary
- Index