The Cambridge Introduction to English Theatre, 1660-1900

Must-have guides designed to introduce students and teachers to key topics and authors. This introduction aims to share with readers the author’s enjoyment of the turbulent 240-year history of a theatre that tried, often against the odds, to be ‘modern’. In each of its five parts, it deals successively with history and cultural context, with the plays and the actors who caught the imagination of their era. Peter Thomson’s text, always approachable, is enriched by quotations and carefully selected illustrations that capture ‘the spirit of the age’ under consideration. Beginning with the reopening of the playhouses under licence from Charles II, Thomson introduces the modern English theatre by breaking off at key dates - 1700, 1737, 1789 and 1843 - in order to explore both continuity and innovation. Familiar names and well-known plays feature alongside the forgotten and neglected. This is a reading of dramatic history that keeps constantly in mind the material circumstances that produced, and sometimes oppressed, a supremely popular theatre.

• An easy to read introduction to English theatre from 1660 to 1900 • Places theatre in its cultural and political context, and includes discussion of neglected plays and playwrights • Includes helpful text boxes with illustrative quotations, full chronologies and over thirty carefully selected illustrations

Preface; Part I. The theatre restored: 1660-1700: 1. The material circumstance; 2. The drama; 3. Actors and acting; Part II. The theatre reformed: 1700-1737: 4. The material circumstance; 5. The drama; 6. Actors and acting; Part III. The theatre tamed: 1737-1789: 7. The material circumstance; 8. The drama; 9. Actors and acting; Part IV. Theatre in the age of reform: 1789-1843: 10. The material circumstance; 11. The drama; 12. Actors and acting; Part V. The theatre industry: 1843-1901: 13. The material circumstance; 14. The drama; 15. Actors and acting; Index of plays.