ABSTRACT
It was in the 1880s that a fully pictorial stage was achieved in Victorian England, blending actor and crowds in the setting with a sustained atmospheric and compositional unity. 1 This necessitated ever more elaborate and three-dimensional sets and scenery. By the end of the nineteenth century it had become an article of faith for many that this was the only way to present drama, particularly Shakespeare's plays, to the public. Typically, the architect Alfred Darbyshire in his book The Art of the Victorian Stage (1907) asked:
Can we be surprised that enthusiastic devotees exist who have taken advantage of the resources of the nineteenth century to worthily and adequately produce his works? Is it to be wondered at that the great actor-managers, Kean, Phelps, Calvert, Tree, Courtneidge, Benson and Irving, have spent the best years of their lives, and their treasure, in efforts to place Shakespeare upon our stage with all the accessories and surroundings calculated to secure an honourable setting for the jewels of his mind? 2
