Shakespeare’s Victorian Stage: Performing History in the Theatre of Charles Kean

This book explores the revivals of Shakespeare’s history plays during the Victorian period, as staged by the famous actor-manager Charles Kean. Between 1852 and 1859, Kean produced celebrated productions of Henry V, Henry VIII, King John, Macbeth and Richard II, renowned for their unprecendented attention to antiquarian detail in sets, costumes, and properties (many of which are shown in the book’s illustrations). These productions provided audiences with an unparalleled opportunity to participate in the Victorian obsession with history, especially of the medieval period. Using valuable primary sources, including promptbooks, scenic designs, costume sketches and contemporary reviews, Richard Schoch places mid-Victorian attitudes towards the theatre in the context of major intellectual and political movements of the age. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of theatre history, Shakespeare studies and Victorian culture.

• Explores the revivals of Shakespeare’s history plays as staged in mid-Victorian London by Charles Kean • Generously illustrated • Will appeal to a wide readership of theatre historians, Shakespeareanists and Victorianists

List of illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. ‘The prince of theatrical antiquaries’; 2. ‘Admirable exemplifications’: the rise of theatrical historicism; 3. ‘Solid fragments’: the poetics of performing history; 4. ‘The homestead of history’: medievalism and nationhood on the mid-Victorian stage; 5. Clio: the Muse that got away; Envoi: ‘Getting away from everything feels good’; Bibliography; Index.

Barnard Hewitt Award 1999 - Honorably Mentioned