Staging "The Mysterious Mother"

Staging Author: Cynthia E. Roman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300274858
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 373

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Book Description
The first book-length study of Horace Walpole’s scandalous The Mysterious Mother, including critical essays, an abridged script, and a facsimile edition Horace Walpole’s five-act tragedy The Mysterious Mother (1768), a sensational tale of incest and intrigue, was initially circulated only among the author’s friends. Walpole never permitted it to be performed during his lifetime except as a private theatrical. He described his play as a “delicious entertainment for the closet” and claimed that he “did not think it would do for the stage.” Yet the essays in this volume trace a history of private readings, amateur theatricals, and even early public performances, demonstrating that the play was read and performed more than Walpole’s protests suggest. Exploring a wide variety of topics—including the play’s crypto-Catholicism, its treatments of incest, guilt, motherhood, orphans, and scientific spectacle, and the complex relations between print and performance—the essays demonstrate the rich relevance of The Mysterious Mother to current critical discussions. The volume includes the proceedings of a mini-conference hosted at Yale University in 2018 on the occasion of a staged reading of the play. Also included are the director’s reflections, an abridged script, a facsimile of Walpole’s own copy of the full-length play, and reproductions of the illustrations he commissioned from Lady Diana Beauclerk.

Staging "The Mysterious Mother"

Staging Author: Cynthia E. Roman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300274858
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 373

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Book Description
The first book-length study of Horace Walpole’s scandalous The Mysterious Mother, including critical essays, an abridged script, and a facsimile edition Horace Walpole’s five-act tragedy The Mysterious Mother (1768), a sensational tale of incest and intrigue, was initially circulated only among the author’s friends. Walpole never permitted it to be performed during his lifetime except as a private theatrical. He described his play as a “delicious entertainment for the closet” and claimed that he “did not think it would do for the stage.” Yet the essays in this volume trace a history of private readings, amateur theatricals, and even early public performances, demonstrating that the play was read and performed more than Walpole’s protests suggest. Exploring a wide variety of topics—including the play’s crypto-Catholicism, its treatments of incest, guilt, motherhood, orphans, and scientific spectacle, and the complex relations between print and performance—the essays demonstrate the rich relevance of The Mysterious Mother to current critical discussions. The volume includes the proceedings of a mini-conference hosted at Yale University in 2018 on the occasion of a staged reading of the play. Also included are the director’s reflections, an abridged script, a facsimile of Walpole’s own copy of the full-length play, and reproductions of the illustrations he commissioned from Lady Diana Beauclerk.

The Mysterious Mother. A Tragedy

The Mysterious Mother. A Tragedy PDF Author: Horace Walpole
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English drama
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description


The Gothic Novel and the Stage

The Gothic Novel and the Stage PDF Author: Francesca Saggini
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317319516
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
In this ground-breaking study Saggini explores the relationship between the late eighteenth-century novel and the theatre, arguing that the implicit theatricality of the Gothic novel made it an obvious source from which dramatists could take ideas. Similarly, elements of the theatre provided inspiration to novelists.

Some Account of the English Stage

Some Account of the English Stage PDF Author: John Genest
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Theater
Languages : en
Pages : 576

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Book Description


University of California Publications in English

University of California Publications in English PDF Author: University of California, Berkeley
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN:
Category : English philology
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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“Their Majesties' Servants.” Annals of the English Stage, from Thomas Betterton to Edward Kean. Actors-Authors-Audiences

“Their Majesties' Servants.” Annals of the English Stage, from Thomas Betterton to Edward Kean. Actors-Authors-Audiences PDF Author: John Doran
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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"Their Majesties' Servants." Annals of the English Stage, from Thomas Betterton to Edmund Kean

Author: John Doran
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3375038127
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
Reprint of the original, first published in 1865.

Their Majesties' Servants: Annals of the English Stage (Complete)

Their Majesties' Servants: Annals of the English Stage (Complete) PDF Author: Dr. John Doran
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1378

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Book Description
It is unnecessary to apologise for a new edition of Dr. Doran's Annals of the Stage. The two editions already published have been for many years out of print, and the first is so rare that copies of it bring a high price whenever they occur for sale. And this demand is not a mere bibliographical accident, for the book has held for many years a recognised position as the standard popular history of the English stage. The admirable work of Genest, indispensable as it is to every writer on theatrical history, and to every serious student of the stage, is in no sense a popular work, and is, indeed, rather a collection of facts towards a history than a history itself. In preparing this new edition every effort has been made to add to its interest by the introduction of portraits and other illustrations, and to its authority as a book of reference, by correcting those errors which are scarcely to be avoided by a writer working among the confused, inaccurate, and contradictory documents of theatrical history. No one who has not ventured into this maze can conceive the difficulty of keeping the true path, and I can imagine nothing better calculated to sap one's self-confidence than the task of noting the false turnings made by such a writer as Dr. Doran. I can hardly hope that my own work, light as it is in comparison with his, will be found free from sins of omission, and even of commission. My principle has been to pass no error, however trifling; but, at the same time, I have not thought myself entitled to discuss matters of opinion, or to criticise, either directly or indirectly, Dr. Doran's treatment of his subject. Thus it would be easy to supplement the information regarding the ancient theatres and the theatre of Shakspeare's time contained in the first and second chapters; but, as Dr. Doran obviously intended that his real work should begin with the Restoration Theatres, I have not interfered with his scheme. I trust that, in this, as in other respects, my work has been done in a spirit free from captiousness. The illustrations to this edition have been chosen, not from the book "illustrator's" point of view, but with a serious desire to increase its value as a history. In the case of the portraits, those which Dr. Doran specially mentions, have, wherever it was possible, been selected, and in every instance I believe the portrait given is an accurate and trustworthy likeness. The headpieces, intended to form a supplement to the full-page illustrations, include portraits of persons whose importance scarcely justified their place among the larger pictures, drawings of theatres, and of actors in character. The tailpieces are reproductions of Sayer's beautiful little drawings of Garrick and his contemporaries in their best characters; and in their case no chronological arrangement is possible.

Some Account Of The English Stage, From The Restoration In 1660 To 1830

Some Account Of The English Stage, From The Restoration In 1660 To 1830 PDF Author: John Genest
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Theater
Languages : en
Pages : 714

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Annals of the English Stage

Annals of the English Stage PDF Author: Dr. Doran (John)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Actors
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description