London's West End

How did the West End of London become the world’s leading pleasure district? What is the source of its magnetic appeal? How did the centre of London become Theatreland? London’s West End is the first ever history of the area which has enthralled millions. From the Strand up to Oxford Street, the West End came to stand for sensation and vulgarity but also the promotion of high culture. The reader will explore the growth of theatres, opera houses, galleries, restaurants, department stores, casinos, exhibition centres, night clubs, street life, and the sex industry. The West End produced shows and fashions whose impact rippled outwards around the globe. During the nineteenth century, a neighbourhood that serviced the needs of the aristocracy was opened up to a wider public whilst retaining the imprint of luxury and prestige. The book tells the story of the great artists, actors, and entrepreneurs who made the West End: figures such as Gilbert and Sullivan, the playwright Dion Boucicault, the music hall artiste Jenny Hill, and the American retail genius Harry Gordon Selfridge who wanted to create the best shop in the world. We encounter the origins of the modern star system and celebrity culture. The book moves from the creation of Regent Street to the glory days of the Edwardian period when the West End was the heart of empire and the entertainment industry..

The Age of Boucicault, 1843–80

This chapter explores the ways in which West End theatre took on new forms in the wake of the 1843 Theatre Regulation Act. It argues that between 1843 and 1880 it became much more explicitly a theatre for the middle classes, in line with other developments in the West End. This can be seen in the emergence of fixed ticketing, in the coming of matinee performances, in the long run, and in the way theatres became more comfortable through rebuilding and decoration. The great symbol of this new theatre was the way the stalls elbowed out the pit to become the most desirable seats in the house. The figure who really epitomized this new theatrical world was the playwright Dion Boucicault who turned out a series of hugely popular sensational plays which appealed to theatre-goers with their spectacular effects and scenes of peril.

Dion Boucicault: showman and Shaughraun

Dion Boucicault’s three Irish plays: The Colleen Bawn (1860), Arrah-na-Pogue (1864) and The Shaughraun (1874), while not critically significant, owe their perennial popularity to their appeal to Irish romantic nationalism and to their memorable character types. While Boucicault’s character Myles Murphy or Myles na gCopaleen (Myles of the Ponies), an example of his native Irish hero, was the first of a series of rogue heroes that John Millington Synge developed in his character of Christy Mahon, Boucicault also owes the character of Myles to American native heroes like Sam Patch, Davy Crockett and Mose the Bowery B’hoy. While the plays are not great drama, they are good theatre and a less self-conscious national theatre has found room for both Boucicault and Synge.

Dion Boucicault’s Robert Emmet?: the question of authorship and the season premiere at the McVicker's Theatre, Chicago, on November 5, 1884

The Irish playwright Dion Boucicault (1820-1890) spent most of his career in the United States, where he established himself, adapting crucial moments of Irish history to the stage. Robert Emmet (1884), a play produced at the end of his career, arouses questioning surrounding its authorship. The dramatic text was arguably written by the playwright Frank Marshall (1840-1889) at the request of the actor Henry Irving (1838-1905). This paper explores the question of Robert Emmet’s authorship and investigates the reception of the production in its unsuccessful opening season at the McVicker’s Theatre in Chicago in November, 1884, and Boucicault’s part in it.

Sensation Drama, 1860–1880

Featuring previously unpublished material alongside famous plays,this pioneering edition provides access to some of the most popular plays of the nineteenth century. Characterised by exhilarating plots, large-scale special effects and often transgressive characterisation, these dramas are still exciting for modern readers. This anthology lays the foundation for further scholarly work on sensation drama and focuses public attention on to this influential and immensely popular genre.It features five plays from writers including Dion Boucicault and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. These are supported by a substantial critical apparatus, which adds further value to the anthology by providing rich details on performance history and textual variants. The critical introduction situates the genre in its cultural context and argues for the significance of sensation drama to shifting theatrical cultures and practices.