The Irish Stage in the County Towns: 1720-1800

Description

The Irish Stage in the County Towns: 1720-1800 continues the account of theatricals begun with The Early Irish Stage: The Beginnings to 1710. Professional dramatics, which before 1720 had been confined almost wholly to Dublin had by 1800 become a distinctive feature of town life throughout Ireland. This expansion outside Dublin is described through nine leading county seats—Galway, Ennis, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Newry, Derry, and Belfast.

The record of stage activities is interspersed with references to those contemporary changes which affected the development of dramatic entertainment. Much new information about the playhouses, their inhabitants and their facilities, has been drawn from Irish provincial newspapers and from such manuscripts as the Drennan letters in Belfast and the stage account books of Sir Vere Hunt in Limerick. The repertoire and personnel of all recorded professional performances outside Dublin have been assembled in appendices, revealing many hitherto unknown dramatic works of Irish origin, many forgotten stage figures, and numerous fresh details of the Irish careers of such prominent London performers as Elizabeth Farren, Sarah Siddons, John Philip Kemble, and Charles Macklin.

The illustrations include rare portraits of famous eighteenth-century Irish actors; early maps of the county towns showing the theatre sites; unique playbills from Belfast, Cork, Galway, and Tralee; and a little-known design for a proposed Limerick play-house, 1788.

Some copies are former library books. Condition of product varies from acceptable to good.