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

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”...

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

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

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

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

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

PART II: THE BOY WHO LOVED TO DRAW SKELETONS Originally published Nov. 29, 2021 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora...

PART I: THE PLAY BEGINS WITH A PUNCH Originally posted Nov. 15, 2021 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora Mowatt’s...

PART XI: A PROFITABLE PERIOD OF UNEMPLOYMENT [This is a continuation of my multi-part series of entries examining Anna Cora Mowatt’s...

Originally posted on July 12, 2021 I will return to my series on “The Lady of Lyons” next week, however, some months ago, a volunteer...

DAVENPORT – THE STORIES – Part II Originally posted May 10, 2021 The career of E.L. Davenport bears witness to the fact that the man’s...

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 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...

Originally published August 17, 2020 As you may intuit from the title of this week’s blog, I am not yet ready to wrap up my series on...

Originally published July 27, 2020 I want to start today’s entry with a complaint about standard volumes of nineteenth century theater...

Originally Posted on July 17, 2020 If I had written the story of the Watts Scandal as a melodrama and wished to cast it from the pool of...

Originally published June 29, 2020 At the time of this writing, I am working on a recording of an audiobook of Mowatt’s novel Fairy...

Originally posted June 18, 2020 At the end of the 1850’s, Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie experienced a creative renaissance of sorts. I qualify...