Women in British Romantic Theatre: Drama, Performance, and Society, 1790-1840

This is the first collection of essays to examine the extraordinary contribution of women playwrights, actors, translators, critics and managers who worked in British theatre during the romantic period. Focusing on women well-known during their day but neglected for some 150 years, the volume provides a crucial new perspective that revises historical narratives and reflects the rapidly changing terrain of scholarship in the complex field of romantic theatre and drama. Eleven specially-commissioned essays by a distinguished team of scholars explore the role of numerous theatrical women including the eminent actress Sarah Siddons and two of the period’s most prolific playwrights Elizabeth Inchbald and Joanna Baillie. The book strikes a balance between literary and theatrical approaches, showing how the period’s preoccupation with categories such as text and performance, closet drama and stage, provide a key to ‘uncloseting’ an important group of female theatre artists.