Ruskin, the Theatre and Victorian Visual Culture

This collection of essays sets out to challenge the dominant narrative about Victorian theatre by placing the practices and products of the Victorian theatre in relation to Victorian visual culture, through the lens of the concept of 'Ruskinian theatre', an approach to theatre which values its educative purpose as well as its aesthetic expression.

Contents Acknowledgements Notes on contributors Introduction: The Victorian Stage and Visual Culture; K.Newey PART I: RUSKIN AND THE THEATRE John Ruskin, Olympian Painters and the Amateur Stage; J.Richards Ruskin at the Savoy ; T.Hilton Ruskinian Moral Authority and Theatre''s Ideal Woman; R.Dickinson Re-interpreting Ruskin and Browning''s Dramatic ''Art-poems''; A.Leng Ruskin and the National Theatre; A.Heinrich The First Theatrical Pre-Raphaelite? Ruskin''s Molière; A.Tate PART II: THE THEATRE AND THE VISUAL ARTS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY The Britannia Theatre: Visual Culture and the Repertoire of a Popular Theatre; J.Norwood Supernumeraries: decorating the late-Victorian stage with lots (& lots& lots) of live bodies; D.Mayer ''A truer peep at Old Venice''. The Merchant of Venice on the Victorian stage; R.Foulkes The Photographic Portraiture of Henry Irving and Ellen Terry; S.West ''Auntie, can you do that?'' or ''Ibsen in Brixton'': Representing the Victorian Stage through Cartoon and Caricature; J.Davis Bibliography Index