Audiences in the 18th century were not as well behaved as today – and if they didn't like the play, they burnt the theatre down. A new British Library exhibition tells all
Sandwiched between the great Restoration comedies and the height of Victorian music hall, the theatre of the Georgian era is rarely celebrated, despite the presence of stars like David Garrick and Sarah Siddons – not to mention regular riots over ticket prices.
That could be set to change when a selection of rare theatrical memorabilia goes on show at the British Library next month, as part of its Georgians Revealed: Life, Style and the Making of Modern Britain exhibition, which opens on 8 November and runs until March, during which time the 300th anniversary of George I's accession to the throne will be marked.
While the exhibition focuses on all aspects of British cultural life in the 18th century and features items including a violin owned by moral philosopher Jeremy Bentham, it will pay particular focus to the theatre of the time.
"We're excited to uncover these objects that shed light on daily life in such an exciting time for cultural development," said lead curator Moira Goff. "The parallels we can draw between Georgian Britain and today are astonishing."
Among the theatrical items on show are inventories that document the workings of the Covent Garden theatre, which stood where the Royal Opera House's does now, and playbills that give a sense of what plays and actors contemporary audiences were watching.
Goff told The Stage that she hopes to demonstrate that "very familiar forms of entertainment that started in this period."
She continued: "I also want people to get a sense of how lively things were – it wasn't just straightforward theatre. There were other things happening at the time, and they were creating new forms of theatre and performance, which have come down to us."
The exhibition will also document the behaviour of audiences at the time, which was far rowdier than it is today. It was not unheard of for audiences to moo like cows during poor plays, for example, and Drury Lane theatre was destroyed by rioting on six different occasions during the century.
"Audiences were much livelier, and one of the reasons is the house lights did not go down when the show began," Goff explained. "The auditorium was illuminated, so people were all in it together, in the same space as the performers onstage, essentially."
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