The Working-Class Theater of Victorian London

FAIN: FB-50601-04

Heidi J. Holder
Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant, MI 48859-0001)

My project is to research, in collections in London, New York, and Massachusetts, the theater of Victorian London's working-class neighborhoods--in particular those of the East End. Little work has been done heretofore on these venues, which drew thousands of spectators weekly. A study of this neglected area of British theater history would offer a more detailed and accurate picture both of the primary source of entertainment for London's lower classes and of the ways in which the theaters responded to perceived social problems and "crises" (especially that of impoverished "outcast London," a subject of endless journalistic exposés). During the grant period I intend to complete the research and writing of three chapters (on Jewish themes and audiences, the representation of street children, and plays of empire) of a book-length manuscript on this subject.