Players and performances in the Victorian theatre /

Taylor has provided an invaluable service to the student of acting and theater history. By explicating the texts of seven plays produced between 1839 and 1895 on the English stage, the author explores not only the changing production styles and the development of an ensemble theater but also the evolution of an acting style that would come to be called "modern." Taylor's contention is that the stock acting of stock companies, with their stars and their conventionalized systems of professionals, eventually cracked and crumbled. The style of acting "was to use a highly conventionalized technique to convey highly convincing emotion." Basically, actors, managers, and producers constantly struggled with the paradox of acting--feeling, but not feeling; the appearance of emotion by imitation without the accompanying symptoms of emotion. Scholarly in every way, the author has used extensive quotations from a variety of historical sources--journals, critiques, diaries, letters, etc.--to document his thesis that the entrance of theatrical "amateurs" brought about a significant change in the late 19th century Victorian theatre that touched every aspect of production. Extensive endnotes and 12 plates of black-and-white photographs enhance the usefulness of the work. A few typos and spelling errors were detected. Recommended for undergraduates and graduates in theater. -R. F. Falk, Lycoming College