The Nineteenth Century Stage:
Industry, Performance and Celebrity
Delve into the dynamic and exciting world of nineteenth-century theatre and the rise of celebrity culture across the UK, US, and Australia through this comprehensive resource.
This collection of rare primary source materials including correspondence, playbills, photographs, prompt books, and periodicals, allows students and researchers of all levels to study theatre from multiple angles including art, culture, business, and technology.
Highlighting advancements in theatre design, and the evolution of acting careers, the collection uncovers how theatre became a powerful cultural force. With insights into iconic figures and featuring unique and engaging materials such as the street literature used for promotion, the resource is ideal for studying the intersection of performance, literature, and social influence.
Beyond the study of theatre, the richly interdisciplinary material supports research in social history, celebrity culture, and the entertainment industry during a transformative era.
Highlights
- Material relating to key actor-managers of the nineteenth century including Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Allan Wilkie, Florence Farr and Henry Irving
- Street Literature material including posters, playbills and other ephemera advertising plays, displayed in streets in the big cities in the UK
- The papers of pioneer of the modern repertory theatre movement. Annie Horniman, reflecting the history of the Gaiety Theatre and her repertory company
- Materials related to the well-known Irish author, Bram Stoker, who also managed the London West End’s Lyceum Theatre and was a personal assistant to actor, Henry Irving
- The rise of theatre building in the nineteenth century and developments in theatre architecture, including measures for reducing the risk of fires developed by Alfred Darbyshire
- Material from the Francis Bridgford Brady collection at Christ Church, University of Oxford, which includes an extensive collection of toy theatre material and tinsel prints
Included in
Key data
Period covered
Source archives
- Christ Church, Oxford
- Emerson College Iwasaki Library
- The Folger Shakespeare Library
- John Rylands Research Institute, the University of Manchester
- The Royal Shakespeare Company
- Senate House Library, the University of London
- The University of Adelaide
- University of California, Davis Campus Library
- Celebrity and fame
- Class and society
- Gender in theatre
- Popular theatre
- Plays and performance
- Publicity and reception
- Touring and empire
- Correspondence
- Ephemera
- Financial and Business Papers
- Newspapers
- Periodicals
- Photographs
- Playbills
- Prompt Books and Playscripts
- Danielle Bainbridge, Northwestern University
- Felicity Brown, University of Oxford
- Gilli Bush-Bailey, University of London
- Michael F. D'Allesandro, Duke University
- Tracy C. Davis, Northwestern University
- Ann Featherstone, University of Manchester
- Catherine Hindson, University of Bristol
- Mary Isbell, University of New Haven
- Tiziana Morosetti, Goldsmiths
- Julianne Smith, Pepperdine University
- Cultural Studies
- Gender
- Literature
- Theatre
- Media and Popular Culture
- Entertainment
