Originally posted on Feb. 15, 2023 If you are a fan of Charles Dickens or Derrek Jacobi, you have probably seen the acclaimed 1987 film...

Originally published Feb. 8, 2021 Without doubt, the most famous parlor theatrical in the history of literature is the “operatic tragedy”...

Originally posted on Feb. 1, 2021 I have never come across any laments from theatre historians bemoaning the fact that so few scripts of...

Originally posted Jan. 25, 2021 Victorian tableaux vivant existed in a gauzy liminal safe space halfway between games and theatre. In the...

Originally published Jan. 18, 2021 [Librivox’s recording of this play can be heard here.] Although she was called upon to play the...

Originally published on Jan. 11, 2021 Perhaps nothing better illustrates the early Victorians’ ambiguous attitude towards theatre better...

Originally published on Dec. 28, 2020 (Listen to a full cast recording of "Armand" at Librivox) Perhaps the most incredible thing that I...

Originally published Dec. 21, 2020 (Listen to a full cast recording of "Armand" at Librivox) Last week, I talked about the triumph of...

Originally posted Dec. 14, 2020 (Listen to a full cast recording of "Armand" at Librivox) In past entries, I have talked about Mary...

Originally posted on Dec. 7, 2020 Anna Cora Mowatt’s success as a playwright in the spring of 1845 was as unprecedented as it was...

Originally published Nov. 30, 2020 As a woman who simultaneously achieved international fame as both a playwright and an actress, Anna...

Originally posted Nov. 29, 2020 While researching for this week’s blog, I found – as I frequently do – information that I wish I could...

Originally published Nov. 16, 2020 There is perhaps no more perfect encapsulation of the ambiguity of the Victorian stance towards the...

Originally published Nov. 6, 2020 Last week, listening to several interviews with Tana Wojczuk, author of a new book on the life of...

Originally published on Nov. 9, 2020 Periodically, theatre historians seem to re-discover Charlotte Cushman. A new volume on her life and...

Originally published Nov. 2, 2020 After reading up on the historical Matthew Hopkins, I think we’re remiss not to number “witch-finder”...

Originally published Oct. 26, 2020 I hope that by now you have had an opportunity to listen to our recording of Henry Spicer’s...

Originally posted Oct. 19, 2020 For the next two weeks, I’ve planned to write about a drama written expressly as a starring vehicle for...

Originally Posted Oct. 12, 2020 Actors say, “I never read reviews.” This declaration is almost never literally true. What they actually...

Originally published October 5, 2020 The year 1850 began so well for Mary Warner and Walter Watts. Their careers seemed to be right on...