Victorian/Edwardian (1837-1914)

Content Group

Overview

In the nineteenth century by the time of Charles Kean the progress towards recovery of Shakespeare's scripts had led to serious attempts to stage Shakespeare's plays more nearly as printed, though later this increased sense of historicity in actor-managers like Beerbohm Tree and Henry Irving also led to an excessive concern to establish scenery, costumes, and behavior on stage consistent with original settings of the plays' contents. Such elaborate staging proved counterproductive to full presentation of scripts because of the time needed for scene changes. In many ways these elaborate costume dramas led the way for twentieth-century cinematic epics: Tree even filmed his extravagantly produced version of Henry VIII, leading the way for subsequent Tudor films and television series.

Images
Much Ado about Nothing, Anna Cora Ritchie as Beatrice, 1819-1870
Much Ado About Nothing, Edward Loomis Davenport as Benedick, London, Princess Theatre, 1848
Much Ado About Nothing, John Gilbert as Dogberry, 1855
Much Ado About Nothing, Charles Kean as Benedick and Ellen Kean as Beatrice, Princess's Theatre, 1858
Much Ado About Nothing (II.i, the masked ball scene), Charles Kean as Benedick, Mrs. Kean as Beatrice, Princess' theatre, 1859
Much Ado About Nothing, John Lester Wallack as Benedick, 1820-1888
Much Ado About Nothing, Miss Julia Dean as Beatrice, 1868
Much Ado About Nothing, John Lester Wallack as Benedick, 1820-1888
Much Ado About Nothing, Ellen Terry and Henry Irving as Benedick and Beatrice, 1870-90
Much Ado About Nothing, Johnston Forbes-Robertson's painting, Lyceum Theatre, London, 1882
Much Ado About Nothing, John Forbes Robertson as Claudio, 1853-1937
Much Ado About Nothing, Viola Tree as Hero, 1884-1938
Much Ado About Nothing, Benson's Shakespeare Festival, 20th Century
Much Ado About Nothing, Julia Marlowe (1865-1950) as Beatrice, E. H. Sothern (1859-1933) as Benedick, 1904
Much Ado About Nothing, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Program, Ashland, 1965
King Lear, Samuel Phelps, 1804-78

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Bibliography

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