ABSTRACT
In London, playhouses were distinguished by the price, kind, and perceived quality of their entertainments. While the patent theatres offered comedies, tragedies and an annual Christmas pantomime, equestrian evolutions at Astley’s Amphitheatre and water spectacles at Sadler’s Wells represented the different kinds of non-dramatic performances available at the capital’s minor theatres. This book has shown that during the Peninsular War London’s disparate stages provided valuable opportunities for both the diversion and instruction of mass audiences. English theatre cannot, however, be confined to the cultural life of Westminster and its immediate vicinity. By the early nineteenth century theatrical activity was also flourishing in the provinces, where the nation’s many Theatre Royals played a key role in promoting the related feelings of civic amelioration and patriotism.
