A Calendar of Plays, Entertainments, and Afterpieces
The Dublin Stage, 1720-1745 is a comprehensive documentary history and calendar of Dublin, Ireland's theatres from 1720, the year of Joseph Ashbury's death, to 1745, when Thomas Sheridan assumed the management of the united Smock Alley/Aungier Street companies and ushered in the "Golden Age" of early Dublin theatre. During the eighteenth century, Dublin was second only to London in the number of theatres it supported and in the number and quality of productions. Winner of Lehigh University Press's eighteenth-century studies prize, this work details for the first time evidence of nearly 1,400 stage performances in eight competing theatres and theatrical booths and hundreds of performers, many previously unnoticed. Programs are listed in a detailed calendar, which is organized by theatrical season and provides a day-by-day account of the plays, afterpieces, dances, music, and songs that were performed, as well as the many other forms of entertainment that were staged at the public theatres, such as rope-dancing, animal acts, and equilibres.
The actors who performed and their named roles are listed, as well as the recipients of benefits, the titles of all songs, dances, and other entre'acte entertainments. Each entry also incorporates all available contemporary commentary about each performance, financial information, and supplies locations of rare texts.
In the analytical introduction to the calendar, the authors discuss the physical characteristics and locations of the theatres; their acoustics and capacities; the Dublin theatre season; composition, administration, and management of the companies of performers; management styles and techniques; actors' contractual arrangements, conditions, and salaries; ticket prices; benefit and command performances; the composition of the repertory; costumes, scenery, wardrobe, and machinery, and much else. Special attention is paid to areas that have been neglected by previous histories, such as dance and dancers, and prologues and epilogues.
In addition to a general index, The Dublin Stage, 1720-1745 provides indexes of all mainpieces and afterpieces performed during the period in Dublin, cross-referenced with the venue and date of performance; an author/play index; and an alphabetical listing of all personnel associated with the Dublin stage at this time, as well as a selected bibliography.
Incorporating into their book the work of recent eighteenth-century theatre scholarship, the authors bring to light much that is new about a fascinating period of theatre history and greatly expand our knowledge about the plays and entertainments enjoyed by Dublin audiences, and about the identities of the stage personnel active in Dublin.
