Richard Fotheringham

The Doubling of Roles on the Jacobean Stage

A decade ago the analysis of the structure of the plays performed by the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline professional theatre companies, in order to discover patterns of doubling of the roles, seemed to hold considerable promise for further inquiry. D. M. Bevingtons pioneering From ‘Mankind’ to Marlowe and W. A. Ringlers article ‘The Number of Actors in Shakespeares Early Plays’ offered direct evidence and tools for structural analysis, and were followed by important studies by Scott McMillin, Irwin Smith, and others. Nevertheless, since then interest in this area – and particularly in doubling on the seventeenth-century stage – seems to have declined. The assumption made explicitly by Bevington and implied by most other commentators has been that as the professional acting companies expanded their resources, found patrons, and increased the number of their liveried personnel, the frenetic doubling of the Tudor era became unnecessary. Apart from some unhurried doubling of very minor characters and extras, they believe this practice virtually disappeared from the Jacobean stage, rendering further investigation unnecessary. The small amount of direct evidence to the contrary, first noted by W. J. Lawrence in 1927, has been analysed as an interesting but aberrant phenomenon; occasional atavistic survivals in a more opulent and refined age whose taste was turning towards ‘realism’ in acting and production methods.

Theatrical Events: Borders, Dynamics, Frames (review)

tors. To paraphrase Bergson, they manifested instances of the human encrusted upon the mechanical, and obviously so. These carping criticisms aside, McCormick’s book is a welcome addition to our understanding of the range of popular theatre forms in the Victorian period. Moreover, he tells the story with passion and admirably conveys the sense of his own emotional investment in an enduring marionette tradition.

Exiled to the colonies: 'Oscar Wilde' in Australia 1895-1897

When Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in 1895, his plays were withdrawn from the London stage and, as Joel Kaplan and Seila Stowell note, exiled to the provinces and played with their authors name discreetly removed. Here, Fotheringham examines the impact of Wildes trials and imprisonment throughout 1895-1897 on public reception to Brough-Boucicault Comedy Companys performances of his plays in Australia.