Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The drama in every generation is swayed by the currents of social and political change affecting the theatre-going public. In the Romantic period the theatre audience grew more rapidly than at any previous period in British history. With the urban influx brought about by the Industrial Revolution, London had by 1800 become the world's largest city. Theatres were rebuilt to house larger audiences. Drury Lane under David Garrick's management seated 2,000 spectators; under Richard Brinsley Sheridan's management, it seated 3,600. The larger audience also more broadly represented the growing middle class, who were prompt to riot for ‘Old Prices’ when, in 1809, Kemble endeavoured to recoup expenses of rebuilding Covent Garden by raising seat prices and converting the third tier from open gallery to expensive private boxes. Dramatic performance in the period was influenced by middle-class values, tastes and political convictions, as well as by the physical demands of performing in vast auditoriums unaided by electronic amplification. Because subtleties of vocal modulation and nuances of facial expression could not be perceived beyond the first few rows, the acting style that evolved to meet the demands of the large playhouses was declamatory with emphatic physical gesturing. When John Philip Kemble rehearsed a performance, he choreographed every pose, every gesture, every step that he ... log in or subscribe to read full text