The Cambridge Companion to Victorian and Edwardian Theatre [Hardcover]

This 2004 Companion examines the world of the Victorian theatre: the audiences, playwrights, actors, and music.This Companion is designed for readers interested in the creation, production and interpretation of Victorian and Edwardian theatre in its own time and on the contemporary stage. The volume opens with an introduction surveying the theatre of the time, followed by an essay contextualizing the theatre within the culture as a whole. Succeeding chapters examine performance, production, and theatre, including the music, the actors, stagecraft and the audience; plays and playwriting and issues of class and gender. Chapters also deal with comedy, farce, melodrama, and the economics of the theatre.This Companion is designed for readers interested in the creation, production and interpretation of Victorian and Edwardian theatre in its own time and on the contemporary stage. The volume opens with an introduction surveying the theatre of the time, followed by an essay contextualizing the theatre within the culture as a whole. Succeeding chapters examine performance, production, and theatre, including the music, the actors, stagecraft and the audience; plays and playwriting and issues of class and gender. Chapters also deal with comedy, farce, melodrama, and the economics of the theatre.This Companion is designed for readers interested in the creation, production and interpretation of Victorian and Edwardian theater. An introduction surveying the historical period of the theater is followed by an essay contextualizing it within the culture as a whole. Succeeding chapters examine performance and production, (including music, actors, stagecraft and audience), plays and playwriting and issues of class and gender. Types of performances (such as comedy, farce, melodrama) and the economics of the theater are also analyzed.List of illustrations; Notes on contributors; Preface Kerry Powell; Part I. Introduction: Before the curtain Nina Auerbach; Part II. Performance and ContexlSV