Performing Shakespeare in the Age of Empire [Paperback]

Explores the political and social uses of Shakespeare through the nineteenth and into the twentieth century.During the nineteenth century the performance of Shakespeare's plays contributed to the creation of a sense of British nationhood at home and overseas. In this book Richard Foulkes explores the political and social uses of Shakespeare through the nineteenth and into the twentieth century and the movement from the business of Shakespeare as an enterprise to that of enshrinement as a cultural icon. An examination of leading Shakespearian actors, managers and directors, from Britain and abroad, is also included in the study.During the nineteenth century the performance of Shakespeare's plays contributed to the creation of a sense of British nationhood at home and overseas. In this book Richard Foulkes explores the political and social uses of Shakespeare through the nineteenth and into the twentieth century and the movement from the business of Shakespeare as an enterprise to that of enshrinement as a cultural icon. An examination of leading Shakespearian actors, managers and directors, from Britain and abroad, is also included in the study.During the nineteenth century, the performance of Shakespeare's plays contributed to the creation of a sense of British nationhood at home and overseas. In this book Richard Foulkes explores the political and social uses of Shakespeare through the nineteenth and into the twentieth century and the movement from the consideration of Shakespeare as an enterprise to that of enshrinement as a cultural icon. An examination of leading Shakespearian actors, managers and directors, from Britain and abroad, is also included in the study.List of illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. The hero as actor: William Charles Macready; 2. Equerries and equestrians: Phelps, Kean and Astley's; 3. A babel of bardolaters: the 1864 tercentenary; 4. Made in Manchester: Charles Calvert and George Rignold; 5. The fashionable tragedian: Henry IlÃ+