Fiona Ritchie analyses the significant role played by women in the construction of Shakespeare's reputation which took place in the eighteenth century. The period's perception of Shakespeare as unlearned allowed many women to identify with him and in doing so they seized an opportunity to enter public life by writing about and performing his works. Actresses (such as Hannah Pritchard, Kitty Clive, Susannah Cibber, Dorothy Jordan and Sarah Siddons), female playgoers (including the Shakespeare Ladies Club) and women critics (like Charlotte Lennox, Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Griffith and Elizabeth Inchbald), had a profound effect on Shakespeare's reception. Interdisciplinary in approach and employing a broad range of sources, this book's analysis of criticism, performance and audience response shows that in constructing Shakespeare's significance for themselves and for society, women were instrumental in the establishment of Shakespeare at the forefront of English literature, theatre, culture and society in the eighteenth century and beyond.
This lavishly illustrated book offers the first full, interdisciplinary investigation of the historical evidence for the presence of ancient Greek tragedy in the post-Restoration British theatre, where it reached a much wider audience - including women - than had access to the original texts. Archival research has excavated substantial amounts of new material, both visual and literary, which is presented in chronological order. But the fundamental aim is to explain why Greek tragedy, which played an elite role in the curricula of largely conservative schools and universities, was magnetically attractive to political radicals, progressive theatre professionals, and to the aesthetic avant-garde. All Greek has been translated, and the book will be essential reading for anyone interested in Greek tragedy, the reception of ancient Greece and Rome, theatre history, British social history, English studies, or comparative literature.
“Totally addictive!”—C.J. Tudor, author of The Chalk Man For Sale: Lovely family home, ready for your updates. Friendly neighborhood setting close to park; secluded. If not for the bodies discovered in the woods behind their new home, Garrick and Olivia Lockwood couldn’t have afforded to buy number 25 The Avenue. It’s the fresh start they and their two children badly need. Soon, these terrible crimes will be solved, they tell themselves, and once Garrick has remodeled, he’s confident they’ll sell the house for a profit. But the darkest secrets can reside on quiet, ordinary streets like this—behind the doors of well-kept houses and neighbors’ friendly faces. Secrets that can destroy a family, or savagely end a life, and will surface just when they’re least expected . . . “Dark, terrifying and beautiful.”—New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney Praise for Rattle “A crime novel of the very first order.”—David Baldacci “Harrowing and horrifying.”—Val McDermid “Up there with the best of them . . . an exceptionally creepy psychopathic killer.” —The Times
This is the true story of Fiona, who for many years has reared and cared for young seals on the Hebridean Isle of Islay. She hopes to raise awareness of threats to these creatures who, despite no scientific evidence, are thought to be responsible for declining salmon numbers.
Performing Epic or Telling Tales takes the new millennium as a starting point for an exploration of the turn to narrative in twenty-first-century theatre, which is often also a turn to Graeco-Roman epic. However, the dominant focus of the volume is less on 'what' the recent epic turn in the theatre consists of than 'why' it seems to be so prevalent: this turn is explained with reference not only to the translation and scholarly histories of the epics, but also to earlier performance traditions and, notably, to recent theoretical debates relating to text-based 'drama' and performance based 'theatre'. What is perhaps most remarkable about this epic turn is not simply the sheer number of outstanding performances that it has produced; it is also that recent practice appears to have outstripped much theoretical discussion about theatre. In chapters ranging from spoken word performances to ballet, from the use of machines and technology to performances that make space for voices occluded by the ancient epics, Performing Epic or Telling Tales seeks to contextualize and explain the 'narrative'/storytelling (re-)turn in recent live performances - a turn that regularly entails engagement with ancient Graeco-Roman epics, which have long provided poets, playwrights, artists, and theatre makers with a storehouse of rich, often perceived as 'raw', material. Refigured and refracted for the modern era, the epics of ancient Greece and Rome are found to be particularly revealing, and particularly 'telling' of the contemporary wider cultural sphere.
The Ladies of Llangollen is the first book length critical study of Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, whose 1778 elopement and five decades of “retirement” turned them into eighteenth century celebrities and pivotal figures in the historiography of female same-sex desire. Debates within the history of sexuality have long foundered over questions of what constitutes “proof” of past sexual desires and practices, and the nature of Butler and Ponsonby’s intimacy has been deemed inimical to productive critical consideration. In this ground-breaking study Fiona Brideoake attends to the archive of their shared life—written, performed, and enacted in the vernacular of the everyday—to argue that they embodied an early iteration of female celebrity in which their queerness registered less as the mark of some specified non-normativity than as the effect of their very public, very visible resistance to sexual legibility. Throughout their lives and afterlives, Butler and Ponsonby have been figured as chaste romantic friends, prototypical lesbians, Bluestockings, Romantic domestic archetypes, and proleptically feminist modernists. The Ladies of Langollen demonstrates that this heterogeneous legacy discloses the queerness of their performatively instantiated identities.
Other Women is the vivid account of those women who belonged to a separate part of society: in some ways invisible and socially unacceptable, but at times holding positions of influence and power, living in comfort and even luxury.The stories range from the many mistresses of Charles II – including Barbara Villiers who bore the king at least five children – to the liaison between Edward VII and Alice Keppel, greatgrandmother of the Duchess of Cornwall; from the passionate loves of great artists – Edward Burne-Jones, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and H.G. Wells – to the affairs of many other men of arts and letters.This book is not confined to the lovers of famous men, however: the author also charts the history of ‘ordinary’ mistresses, those who did not necessarily acquire wealth or wield influence. There are stories here of power and politics, freedom of speech and the rise from slum to palace. But, above all, they are stories of love.
Siblings Sarah Siddons (1755–1831) and John Philip Kemble (1757–1823) were the most famous British actors of the late-18th and early-19th centuries. Through their powerful acting and meticulous conceptualisation of Shakespeare's characters and their worlds, they created iconic interpretations of Shakespeare's major roles that live on in our theatrical and cultural memory. This book examines the actors' long careers on the London stage, from Siddons's debut in 1782 to Kemble's retirement in 1817, encompassing Kemble's time as theatre manager, when he sought to foreground their strengths as Shakespearean performers in his productions. Over the course of more than thirty years, Siddons and Kemble appeared opposite one another in many Shakespeare plays, including King John, Henry VIII, Coriolanus and Macbeth. The actors had to negotiate two major Shakespeare scandals: the staging of Vortigern – a fake Shakespearean play – in 1796 and the Old Price Riots of 1809, during which the audience challenged Siddons's and Kemble's perceived attempts to control Shakespeare. Fiona Ritchie examines the siblings' careers, focusing on their collaborations, as well as placing Siddons's and Kemble's Shakespeare performances in the context of contemporary 18th- and 19th-century drama. The volume not only offers a detailed consideration of London theatre, but also explores the importance of provincial performance to the actors, notably in the case of Hamlet – a role in which both appeared across Britain and in Ireland.
This practical guide to children’s common errors and misconceptions in mathematics is a popular planning tool for primary trainees. It supports a deeper understanding of the difficulties encountered in mathematical development. This third edition has been updated to link to the new National Curriculum. New for this edition is a chapter on addressing errors misconceptions which explores how errors can best be identified and countered. The text examines misconceptions individually and in each case provides a description of the error alongside an explanation of why the error happens. The text also considers the role of the teacher in understanding and addressing children’s common mathematical misconceptions.
The "Black Country" is an area historically known as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution—a thriving regioin built around deep coal seams, conjuring up images of fiery red furnaces by night and black, sooty citadels by day. Yet today the resource-rich region also features many striking public sculptures. This volume provides a comprehensive catalog to all of the historic sculptures and public monuments in Staffordshire and the Black Country. George Noszlopy and Fiona Waterhouse catalog each individual sculpture in detail, including information about the sculptor, the sculpture's historical and artistic significance, the commissioning agent, and the date of installation. The volume also features 350 black-and-white photographs that document the diverse and rich beauty of the region's public monuments. The ninth volume in the widely acclaimed, award-winning Public Sculpture of Britain series, Public Sculpture of Staffordshire and the Black Country is an invaluable resource for British historians, art scholars, and travelers alike.
Britain's bestselling travel guide for over 35 years and the only truly independent pub guide of its kind. ***Featured in the Guardian, the Times and Mail Online and on BBC Radio 4*** The 38th edition of this much-loved book is as irreplaceable as ever. Organised county by county, its yearly updates and reader recommendations ensure that only the best pubs make the grade. Here you will not only find a fantastic range of countryside havens, bustling inns and riverside retreats, but also pubs known for their excellent food, some specialising in malt whiskey and craft beers. Discover the top pubs in each county for beer, food and accommodation, and find out the winners of the coveted titles of Pub of the Year and landlord of the Year. Packed with hidden gems, The Good Pub Guide continues to provide a wealth of honest, entertaining and up-to-date information on the countries drinking establishments.
The 33rd edition of this much loved guide is as invaluable as ever. Organized county by county, its comprehensive yearly updates and countless reader recommendations ensure that only the very best pubs make the grade. Here you will find classic country pubs, town-centre inns, riverside retreats, historic havens and exciting newcomers, plus gastropubs and pubs specialising in malt whisky or craft beer. Discover the top pubs in each country for beer, food and accommodation, and find out the winners of the coveted titles of Pub of the Year and Landlord of the Year. Packed with hidden gems, The Good Pub Guide provides a wealth of honest, entertaining and indispensable information.
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