Victorian Theatre

Jan 229 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Public Reading, Mesmerism, and the Red Flower of Fame

Part One: The Dazzling Dozen In 1996, I published an article titled "Exploiting the Medium: Mesmerism and the Strange Case of Anna Cora...

Dec 4, 202326 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Polkamania, and “The Serious Family” - Part III

Part III - Seriously Merry (A full cast recording of "The Serious Family" is available at Librivox) In 1849, comedian-turned-playwright...

Nov 6, 202328 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Polkamania, and “The Serious Family” - Part II

Part II -- Seriously Manic Before we begin in earnest, I must warn you that my opinions of the relative merits of “Le Mari à la Campagne”...

Oct 9, 202312 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Polkamania, and “The Serious Family” - Part I

PART ONE - SERIOUSLY CLASSIC The spring of 1852 was one of the saddest, most challenging times of Anna Cora Mowatt’s life. Her husband,...

Sep 4, 202317 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Edgar Allan Poe

Was Anna Cora Mowat one of "Poe’s Women?" When researching a fairly obscure historical figure like Anna Cora Mowatt, it is usually very...

Aug 4, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Anne Blake - Part I

PART I: INTRIGUING, BUT LESS THAN GROUND-BREAKING Originally posted on March 6, 2023 [A recording of this play is available at Librivox]...

Aug 4, 202316 min read

The Wealth of Walter Watts vs. the Poverty of Bob Cratchit - Part II

PART II: THE PROPER PAYMENT OF CLERKS Originally posted December 19, 2022 [An abbreviated video version of this essay is available for...

Aug 4, 202310 min read

The Wealth of Walter Watts vs. the Poverty of Bob Cratchit - Part I

PART I: THE CHARACTER OF CLERKS Originally posted Dec. 1, 2022 [An abbreviated video version of this essay is available for viewing on...

Aug 4, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and “All That Glitters is Not Gold” - Part III

PART III: ANNA CORA STRIKES GOLD AS MARTHA Originally posted Nov. 21, 2022 Martha Gibbs, the pure-hearted heroine of J. Maddison Morton’s...

Aug 4, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and “All That Glitters is Not Gold” - Part II

PART II: GLITTERING IN ENGLAND Originally posted Nov. 7, 2022 [A full cast recording of this play is available atLibrivox ] “All that...

Aug 4, 202312 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and “All That Glitters is Not Gold” - Part I

PART I: JOHN MADDISON MORTON AND HIS OTHER PLAY Originally posted Oct. 24, 2022 In any well-rounded streaming service that delivers...

Aug 3, 202335 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Mimic Life, and the Critics - Part IV

PART IV: THE PUSHBACK Originally posted September 5, 2022 I know that I’ve been building to the negative reaction to Anna Cora Mowatt’s...

Aug 3, 202320 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Mimic Life, and the Critics - Part III

PART III: PUBLICATION Originally posted August 22, 2022 Although January of 1856 is usually listed as the publication date of Mimic Life,...

Aug 3, 202321 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Mimic Life, and the Critics - Part II

PART II: THE PUSH Originally published August 8, 2022 [Given the response to my last entry, I am somewhat tempted to take a short...

Aug 3, 202317 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Mimic Life, and the Critics - Part I

PART I: THE PREP Originally posted July 25, 2022 Among the reasons why it is a good thing that I am no longer in the classroom is that I...

Aug 2, 202328 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Louise Waller – Part IV

PART IV -- IN SICKNESS AND IN WEALTH: MEN, MONEY, AND ILLNESS IN MOWATT'S NARRATIVES [CONTENT WARNING: SUICIDE] Originally posted June...

Aug 2, 202324 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Louise Waller – Part III

PART III -- LOVE, SEX, AND HEROES Originally posted June 6, 2022 The truth is the majority of people don’t really care about history. ...

Aug 2, 202321 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Louise Waller – Part II

PART II -- MOWATT, MEN, AND VILLANY Originally posted May 23, 2022 If you pick up a book about popular culture in the 19th century in the...

Aug 2, 202321 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Louise Waller

PART I: MOWATT'S WOMEN Originally posted May 9, 2022 A Master’s thesis is really a horrid sort of little document. In the Humanities,...

Aug 2, 202315 min read

The Lost Plays of Walter Watts – The First Night of My Marriage

A MERRY MANUSCRIPT WITH A BIT OF A MYSTERY Originally posted April 18, 2022 Of all the plays authored by Walter Watts I have written...