A Cultural History of Theatre in the Age of Empire (The Cultural Histories, Book 5)

The 19th century ushered in an unprecedented boom in technology,the unification of European nations, the building of global empiresand stabilization of the middle classes. The theatre of the erareflected these significant developments as well as helped tocatalyse them. Populist theatre and purposebuilt playhousesflourished in the ever-growing urban and cosmopolitan centres ofEurope and in expanding global networks.This volume provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinaryoverview of the cultural history of theatre from 1800 to 1920.Highly illustrated with 51 images, the ten chapters each take adifferent theme as their focus: institutional frameworks; socialfunctions; sexuality and gender; the environment of theatre;circulation; interpretations; communities of production; repertoireand genres; technologies of performance; and knowledgetransmission.