Description
Book SynopsisBy 1800 London had as many theatre seats for sale as the city's population. This was the start of the capital's rise as a centre for performing arts. Worrall brings to life a period of extraordinary theatrical vitality, re-examining the beginnings of celebrity culture amidst a monopolistic commercial theatrical marketplace.
Trade Review'Quirky, original, entertaining … liberally packed with fascinating material viewed from unusual perspectives.' The Times Literary Supplement
'This book brings groundbreaking research to bear on its discussion of actors, performances, audiences, and playhouses in Britain in the 1780s and 1790s … [a] rich and fascinating study …' Helen M. Burke, Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Theatre Research
Table of ContentsIntroduction: theatre, performance and social assemblage theory; 1. Theatrical assemblages and theatrical markets; 2. Georgian performance and the assemblage model; 3. Theatrical celebrity as social assemblage: from Garrick to Kean; 4. Celebrity networks: Kean and Siddons; 5. A working theatrical assemblage: 1790s representations of naval conflict; 6. Theatrical assemblage populations: the Turkish ambassador's visits to London playhouses, 1794; 7. Historicising the theatrical assemblage: Marie Antoinette and the theatrical queens; 8. The regulatory assemblage: The Roman Actor and the politics of self-censorship; Conclusion; Appendix: actor-network theory.
