VICTORIAN THEATER | The Lady Actress

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, 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 4, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Haunted Melrose

THE GHOSTLY LEGEND OF ISABELLA AND COLONEL AXTELL Originally posted Oct. 3, 2022 For the first five years of her marriage, Anna Cora...

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, 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...

Aug 1, 202322 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and What’s in a Name – Part II

PART II: ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE Originally posted March 28, 2022 The Victorian opulence of Anna Cora Ogden Mowatt Ritchie’s name...

Aug 1, 202319 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Ion

PART VIII: WAKING REALITIES OF MOWATT'S "DREAMY" ION Originally posted Feb. 28, 2022 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna...

Jul 31, 202319 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and the Practical Applications of “Ion”

PART VII: ANYTHING ELLEN TREE CAN DO… Originally posted February 7, 2022 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora Mowatt’s...

Jul 31, 202311 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Charlotte Cushman, and the Vanishing Ion

PART VI: ACTRESS VS. ACTRESS Originally posted Jan. 24, 2022 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora Mowatt’s experience...

Jul 31, 202321 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Charlotte Cushman’s Ion

PART V: LADY ION Originally posted Jan. 10, 2022 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora Mowatt’s experience playing the...

Jul 31, 202321 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Ellen Tree’s Ion on Tour

PART IV: THE U.S. GOES OUT OF ITS TREE FOR ELLEN Originally posted Dec. 29, 2021 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora...

Jul 30, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Ellen Tree’s Ion

PART III: THE GRAND EXPERIMENT BEGINS [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora Mowatt’s experience playing the lead role in...

Jul 30, 202311 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and the Author of “Ion”

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

Jul 30, 202310 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and “Ion”

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