ABSTRACT
For the British theatre the concluding decades of the nineteenth century and the first of the twentieth constituted a period of unexampled creativity, diversity and popular appeal. There were various reasons for this. The passage of the Theatre Regulation Act (1843), abolishing the monopoly which, since 1660, had restricted performances of legitimate plays in London to Covent Garden and Drury Lane, led in due course to a boom in theatre-building not only in the capital, but also (indirectly) across the country. This, of course, reflected the shift in population to the metropolis and other expanding, industrial cities. The leisure pursuits of this new urban population were a matter of concern not least to church leaders, who in many cases abandoned longstanding opposition to the theatre, recognising it as potentially far more beneficial (or at least less harmful) than many of the alternatives available. They and others (Gladstone, for instance) could take their cue from the example set by the royal family. From an early age Queen Victoria had been an enthusiast for the theatre (and other entertainments, such as the circus) and, having found in her husband, Prince Albert, a kindred – albeit rather more earnest – spirit, together in 1848 they instituted the Windsor Theatricals while still continuing to patronise public theatres. Following the death of Prince Albert in 1861 his widow no longer considered attendance at theatrical performances to be appropriate, but her eldest son and heir, as Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII, was enthusiastic in his support. Over the years the technical resources of stage management grew with advances in set construction, lighting and so on. On the other side of the curtain, facilities for the audience were greatly improved, especially in theatres that catered for the upper echelons of society. The increasing respectability of the theatre made it an attractive profession for classes which, only a few years earlier, would have regarded it as beyond the pale. At the upper levels of the profession, the financial rewards (especially from long runs in London) were considerable, but, at the other end of the scale, labour was cheap, making large-cast productions economically viable. All this activity created more demand for plays, as well as opportunities for practitioners in related arts such as music and painting.
