Golden Age of Pantomime

Jeffrey Richards is Professor of Cultural History, Lancaster University. His many publications on theatre history include Sir Henry Irving: A Victorian Actor and His World and John Ruskin and the Victorian Theatre. He is General Editor of Tauris' Cinema and Society Series. He lives in Lancaster, Lancashire.

• IntroductionIllustrations1 Transformations2 Harlequinade3 Fairyland4 James Robinson Planche and the Classical Extravaganza6 William Roxby Beverley and the Triumph of Scene-Painting7 The Drury Lane Pantomime: the Creators8 E.L. Blanchard and the Drury Lane Pantomimes: the Smith Management9 E.L. Blanchard and the Drury Lane Pantomimes: the Chatterton Management10 Sir Augustus Harris and the Battle for Pantomime

'I rejoice at Jeffrey Richards' achievement: the first thorough and gratifyingly detailed study of London's pantomimes from the 1830s through to c.1900 which quietly blends immaculate scholarship, close analysis and archival work with entertaining readability. So doing, he has produced a work entirely free from whimsy, mawkish nostalgia and enforced rapture that so disfigure earlier attempts to describe this major English theatrical genre.' David Mayer, Emeritus Professor of Drama, Manchester University. 'An insightful and passionate study of the pantomime written by one of Britain's leading cultural historians. Jeffrey Richards is able to bring the Victorian panto back to life, show its vibrancy and popularity, and the extraordinary detail with which it was discussed in the print media. Richards almost made me want to go back in time to witness these spectacles firsthand.' Anselm Heinrich, Head of Theatre Studies, University of Glasgow