Shakespeare’s Victorian Stage: Performing History in the Theatre of Charles Kean

This is the first book to explore the revivals of Shakespeare’s history plays during the Victorian period, as staged by the famous actor-manager Charles Kean. During this period, Kean produced celebrated productions of Henry V, Henry VIII, King John, Macbeth, and Richard II, renowned for their unprecendented attention to antiquarian detail in sets, costumes, and properties (many of which are shown in the book’s illustrations). Using valuable primary sources, including promptbooks, scenic designs, costume sketches, and contemporary reviews, Richard Schoch places mid-Victorian attitudes towards the theatre in the context of major intellectual and political movements of the age. Many of the illustrations are previously unpublished and the book will be of interest to scholars and students of theatre history, Shakespeare studies and Victorian culture. Received honorable mention in the 1999 competition for the Barnard Hewitt Award for outstanding research in theatre history and cognate areas of theatre studies.