ABSTRACT
The competitive employment market that characterized the 1880s and 90s led managers to establish systematic training schools compensating for the loss of the stock system and certifying that at least a few debutantes had knowledge of the basic principles of stage art and an adequate smattering of the middle-class graces and accomplishments useful in genteel drama and comedy. Even those who were trained and experienced found difficulty obtaining work when they reached an unfashionable age, and their difficulty only increased with the onset of true maturity. The career patterns of women and the reasons for their unemployment were, therefore, different from men and almost entirely beyond individuals’ control. With the influx of women into the theatre from the 1850s onward, the profession was forced to deal with the welfare of an essential, large, and identifiable sector of the work force that voiced specific problems about their wage rates, unemployment, training, recruitment, and working conditions. From mid-century the socioeconomic characteristics of employment conjoined with a new demographic reality to highlight certain difficulties and provide a lever for change.
