Theatre has always been a site for selling outrage and sensation, a place where public reputations are made and destroyed in spectacular ways. This is the first book to investigate the construction and production of celebrity in the British theatre. These original and exciting essays explore aspects of fame in a wide range of performers and playwrights including David Garrick, Ellen Terry, Oscar Wilde, Edmund Kean, Laurence Olivier and Sarah Kane. Theatre and Celebrity in Britain, 1660-2000 is a pioneering volume which sets out to examine the ingenious ways in which stars have negotiated and defined their own fame. Organized around the themes of public intimacy, notoriety, markets and the nation, the essays in this innovative and wide-ranging collection reveal the critical position of celebrity in the history of British theatre.
'There is not a weak link in the book. A compelling setof case studies intriguingly sets out much that nuances understanding of the kinds of figures who exert more attention now than perhaps ever before.' - Modernism/Modernity
'A fascinating collection of essays that invites us to compare theatrical personalities of different ages, and wonder what makes these people, of all those who are professionally involved in the creation of fictional personae for public consumption, special.' - Times Literary Supplement
'The essays collected here...make a valuable contribution to understanding the history of a phenomenon that, while it has only recently started to receive serious attention, has clearly been with us for some time.' Tom Mole, Theatre Notebook
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction; M.Luckhurst & J.Moody
PART I: PUBLIC INTIMACY
Public History: The Prior History of 'It'; J.Roach
Wilde: The Remarkable Rocket; P.Raby
The Many Masks of Clemence Dane; M.B.Gale
PART II: NOTORIETY
Stolen Identities: Character, Mimicry and the Invention of Samuel Foote; J.Moody
The Celebrity of Edmund Kean: An Institutional Story; J.Bratton
Infamy and Dying Young: Sarah Kane, 1971-1999; M.Luckhurst
PART III: MARKETS
Celebrity and Rivalry: David [Garrick] and Goliath [Quin]; P.Thomson
Actresses and the Economics of Celebrity, 1700-1800; F.Nussbaum
Private Lives and Public Spaces: Reputation, Celebrity and the Late Victorian Actress; S.Eltis
PART IIII: NATION
Siddons, Celebrity and Regality: Portraiture and the Body of the Ageing Actress; S.West
'Some of you might have seen him': Laurence Olivier's Celebrity; P.Holland
Index
MARY LUCKHURST is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York, UK. She is the author of Dramaturgy and Theatre: The Silent Revolution (2005).
JANE MOODY is Professor in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York, UK. She is the author of Illegitimate Theatre in London, 1770-1830 (2000).
Description
Theatre has always been a site for selling outrage and sensation, a place where public reputations are made and destroyed in spectacular ways. This is the first book to investigate the construction and production of celebrity in the British theatre. These original and exciting essays explore aspects of fame in a wide range of performers and playwrights including David Garrick, Ellen Terry, Oscar Wilde, Edmund Kean, Laurence Olivier and Sarah Kane. Theatre and Celebrity in Britain, 1660-2000 is a pioneering volume which sets out to examine the ingenious ways in which stars have negotiated and defined their own fame. Organized around the themes of public intimacy, notoriety, markets and the nation, the essays in this innovative and wide-ranging collection reveal the critical position of celebrity in the history of British theatre.
Reviews
'There is not a weak link in the book. A compelling setof case studies intriguingly sets out much that nuances understanding of the kinds of figures who exert more attention now than perhaps ever before.' - Modernism/Modernity
'A fascinating collection of essays that invites us to compare theatrical personalities of different ages, and wonder what makes these people, of all those who are professionally involved in the creation of fictional personae for public consumption, special.' - Times Literary Supplement
'The essays collected here...make a valuable contribution to understanding the history of a phenomenon that, while it has only recently started to receive serious attention, has clearly been with us for some time.' Tom Mole, Theatre Notebook
Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction; M.Luckhurst & J.Moody
PART I: PUBLIC INTIMACY
Public History: The Prior History of 'It'; J.Roach
Wilde: The Remarkable Rocket; P.Raby
The Many Masks of Clemence Dane; M.B.Gale
PART II: NOTORIETY
Stolen Identities: Character, Mimicry and the Invention of Samuel Foote; J.Moody
The Celebrity of Edmund Kean: An Institutional Story; J.Bratton
Infamy and Dying Young: Sarah Kane, 1971-1999; M.Luckhurst
PART III: MARKETS
Celebrity and Rivalry: David [Garrick] and Goliath [Quin]; P.Thomson
Actresses and the Economics of Celebrity, 1700-1800; F.Nussbaum
Private Lives and Public Spaces: Reputation, Celebrity and the Late Victorian Actress; S.Eltis
PART IIII: NATION
Siddons, Celebrity and Regality: Portraiture and the Body of the Ageing Actress; S.West
'Some of you might have seen him': Laurence Olivier's Celebrity; P.Holland
Index
Authors
MARY LUCKHURST is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York, UK. She is the author of Dramaturgy and Theatre: The Silent Revolution (2005).
JANE MOODY is Professor in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York, UK. She is the author of Illegitimate Theatre in London, 1770-1830 (2000).
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