The censorship of eighteenth-century theatre : playhouses and prohibition, 1737-1843 / edited by David O'Shaughnessy.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

O'Shaughnessy, David, 1976- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Great Britain. Licensing Act (1737).

Great Britain.

Theater--Censorship--Great Britain.

Theater.

Theater--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Theater--Great Britain--History--19th century.

English drama--18th century--History and criticism.

English drama.

English drama--19th century--History and criticism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 262 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

This collection reveals the wide-ranging impact of the Stage Licensing Act of 1737 on literary and theatrical culture in Georgian Britain. Demonstrating the differing motivations of the state in censoring public performances of plays after the Stage Licensing Act of 1737 and until the Theatres Act 1843, chapters cover a wide variety of theatrical genres across a century and show how the mechanisms of formal censorship operated under the Lord Chamberlain's Examiner of Plays. They also explore the effects of informal censorship, whereby playwrights, audiences and managers internalized the censorship regime. As such, the volume moves beyond a narrow focus on erasures and emendations visible on manuscripts to elucidate censorship's wide-ranging significance across the long eighteenth century. Demonstrating theatre archives' potency as a resource for historical research, this volume is of exceptional value for researchers interested in the evolving complexities of Georgian society, its politics and mores.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 07 Aug 2023).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9781108866576 (ebook)

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.