As social turmoil increased in England, audiences grew more in tune with Shakespeare's cynical undercutting of the Homeric tale of Greeks and Trojans, and less dismissive of his dark comedic treatment of the Medieval tale of Troilus and Cressida. This edition of his problematic play traces its theatrical history. It draws upon critical responses, photographic archives, promptbooks, and video tapes of more recent productions to reveal changes in production styles and emphasis, against a broader background of social change.

Theater history has often been interpreted in ways which highlight and omit key elements. Jacky Bratton explores this dilemma by examining how theater history has been chronicled and interpreted. Analyzing case studies from nineteenth-century British theater, Bratton reveals the difference between the existence of "the drama" (plays and play literature) and "the stage" (performance, theater building, and attendance).

As social turmoil increased in England, audiences grew more in tune with Shakespeare's cynical undercutting of the Homeric tale of Greeks and Trojans, and less dismissive of his dark comedic treatment of the Medieval tale of Troilus and Cressida. This edition of his problematic play traces its theatrical history. It draws upon critical responses, photographic archives, promptbooks, and video tapes of more recent productions to reveal changes in production styles and emphasis, against a broader background of social change.

Previously unpublished manuscripts--James Frowde's account of his young life with the famous Henglers' circus in the 1850s and Thomas Lawrence's 1871 gag book--offer unique, unmediated access to the grass roots of popular entertainment. Through them this book explores the role of the circus clown at the height of equestrian entertainment in Britain, when the comic generated audience attention for the riders and acrobats, by parodying their skills in his own tumbling and contortionism, and also offered a running commentary on the times through his own 'wheezes' or stand-up comedy sets.

Previously unpublished manuscripts--James Frowde's account of his young life with the famous Henglers' circus in the 1850s and Thomas Lawrence's 1871 gag book--offer unique, unmediated access to the grass roots of popular entertainment. Through them this book explores the role of the circus clown at the height of equestrian entertainment in Britain, when the comic generated audience attention for the riders and acrobats, by parodying their skills in his own tumbling and contortionism, and also offered a running commentary on the times through his own 'wheezes' or stand-up comedy sets.

Bratton presents a completely new history of the dynamic beginnings of the modern world of London West End theatre.

Dickens loved the stage: he enjoyed thousands of evenings in the theatre, longed to write for the stage and to perform himself, an ambition that he eventually satisfied by touring alone with his Readings. Victorian prejudice and his need to preserve his personal image kept him from openly becoming a stage professional earlier in his career, but all his work was informed by his dramatic imagination. He found ways of circumventing these taboos by seeking closer and closer contact over the staging of his work with dramatic writers, admired actors, and trusted theatre managements. This...