Maggie B. Gale is Chair in Drama at the University of Manchester. John Stokes is Professor of Modern British Literature in the Department of English, King's College London.

• Introduction Maggie B. Gale and John Stokes; Part I. Turning Points: 1. Revolution, legislation and autonomy Gilli Bush-Bailey; 2. Spectacle, intellect and authority: the actress in the eighteenth century Elizabeth Eger; 3. Cultural formations: the nineteenth-century touring actress and her international audiences Gail Marshall; 4. The actress as photographic icon: from early photography to early film David Mayer; 5. The actress and the profession: training in England in the twentieth century Lucie Sutherland; 6. 'Out of the ordinary': exercising restraint in the post-war years John Stokes; 7. Icons and labourers: some political actresses Tony Howard; Part II. Professional Opportunities: 8. The actress as manager Jo Robinson; 9. By herself: the actress and autobiography, 1755–1939 Viv Gardner; 10. The screen actress from silence to sound Christine Gledhill; 11. 'Side doors and service elevators': racial constraints for actresses of colour Lynette Goddard; Part III. Genre, Form and Tradition: 12. Mirroring men: the actress in drag Jacky Bratton; 13. 'Studies in hysteria': actress and courtesan, Sarah Bernhardt and Mrs Patrick Campbell Elaine Aston; 14. Beyond the muse: the Spanish actress as collaborator Maria M. Delgado; 15. Going solo: an historical perspective on the actress and the monologue Maggie B. Gale; 16. Changing Shakespeare Penny Gay.

'From an impressive group of scholars, the essays are distinguished by a consistent effort to move beyond traditional critical and artistic boundaries and offer original investigations of the actress and the systems, conventions, and communities that contributed to a career.' Theatre Survey