1st Edition

The Routledge Anthology of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Performance

Edited By Daniel O'Quinn, Kristina Straub, Misty G. Anderson Copyright 2019
    750 Pages
    by Routledge

    750 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Routledge Anthology of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Performance brings together a selection of particularly memorable performances, beginning with Nell Gwyn in a 1668 staging of Secret Love, and moving chronologically towards the final performance of John Philip Kemble's controversial adaptation of Thomas Otway's Venice Presever'd in October 1795.

    This volume contains a wealth of contextual materials, including contemporary reviews, portraits, advertisements, and cast lists. By privileging event over publication, this collection aims to encourage an understanding of performance that emphasizes the immediacy - and changeability - of the theatrical repertoire during the long eighteenth century.

    Offering an invaluable insight into the performance culture of the time, The Routledge Anthology of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Performance is a unique, much-needed resource for students of theatre. 

    Introduction

    1. Actress and Royal Mistress: "Pretty Witty Nell"

    2. Magical Transformations: A Queen and her Many Worlds

    3. Betterton's Last Lear

    4. Soldiers Abroad: The Recruting Officer in Charleston, South Carolina

    5. The Pleasures of Celebrity Scandal: The Rover's Endurance

    6.Opposition Cato: Royal Players at Leiceister House

    7. An African Weeps for Oroonoko: The Royal Slave

    8. Tom Thumb in Manhattan: Lewis Hallam’s Theatrical Enterprise

    9. The Chinese Festival Riots

    10. National Fantasy/Wardrobe Malfunction: Royal Command Performance of Thomas Arne’s Love in a Village

    11. Ethnic Spectacle: Charles Macklin in The Merchant of Venice and Love a-la-Mode

    12. An Actor's Farewell: Garrick in The Wonder

    13. The Re-Coronation of George III: Commemorating Handel

    14. Imperial Pantomime: John O’Keefe and Philippe Jacques De Loutherbourg's Omai, or A Trip Around the World

    15. Stealing Venice Preserv’d

    Biography

    Daniel O'Quinn is Professor in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph, Canada.

    Kristina Straub is Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, USA.

    Misty G. Anderson is Lindsay Young Professor of English and Joint Professor of Theatre at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, USA.