“Don’t Forget The Pierrots!'' The Complete History of British Pierrot Troupes & Concert Parties

Tony Lidington is associate lecturer of Drama at the University of Exeter, UK. Tony has been a professional showman for 40 years – researching and implementing British popular entertainment forms in a wide variety of contexts throughout the country. He is founder and performer of the last-remaining professional seaside pierrot troupe the "Pierrotters" and has performed at countless resorts and events as his alter ego "Uncle Tacko!"

• List of figures Thanks! Support for writing and illustrations Acknowledgements Note about cover images Preface: “The Pierrot fable” Introduction1 “Here we are again!”: Current practice2 “Trope to troupe”: The origins of Pierrot in Britain3 Minstrels: White and black4 “The Seaside Minstrels”5 Proliferation6 “Bringing Blighty to the Boys with troupes for the troops”: Pierrot troupes and concert parties in the First World War7 Ambiguities in the evolution of the form and its developments during the inter-war years8 Khaki-clad pierrot heroes: British concert parties/pierrot troupes in the Second World War9 “It’s that troupe again …”: Concert party adaptations for the airwaves and post-war British pop culture10 “Impacts and reverberations”: The ways in which the seaside troupe format has directly affected contemporary culture11 Conclusion: Pierrots and concert parties provide a portal to past, present and future popular cultureAppendices Appendix 1: Timeline of pierrot/concert-party projects by Tony Lidington Appendix 2: Programme for Moore & Burgess Minstrels, April 14th 1877 Appendix 3: early members of Clifford Essex’s troupe Appendix 4: Table illustrating the date of the first connections to seaside resorts by steamer and railway Appendix 5: Spreadsheet of troupes with the words “Royal” or “Imperial” in the title Appendix 6: List of troupes formed prior to the First World War Appendix 7: Song books & publishers for pierrot troupes and concert partiesAppendix 8: List of troupes operating in the First World War Appendix 9: Pierrot troupe list for 1918–1939Appendix 10: Numbers of ENSA performances (from information provided by Basil Dean)Appendix 11: Annual budgetary expenditures for ENSAAppendix 12: List of seaside shows opening 1946–1961 Appendix 13: The Roosters Glossary of terms References Index