Our theatrical past laid bare

By Adrian Edwards, Curator, the British Library

In the days before breakfast and drivetime programmes, with no chat shows or peer-to-peer review websites, it was the humble printed playbill, often trumpeting bold claims and superlative language, which was used to attract an audience to its seats.

Hundreds of years after their primary purpose has passed, they now act as a mouth-watering record of performance across the country, painting a comprehensive picture of Britain's theatrical past. The extensive collection of playbills in the British Library date from 1753 to the early years of the 20th century and cover cities and towns, villages and hamlets: from Stratford-upon-Avon to Southam.

These are fliers or bills advertising performances, printed by local printers to be distributed, put up and given out to entice audiences along to the shows. They were also for use during the performance itself to find out who was on stage next, like a theatre programme today. They are not posters – the playbills used the letter press, not the technology of mass production.

Playbills don’t have illustrations (other than a printer’s standard decorative ornaments), but the language used to advertise each performance can offer insights into details such as the performance venue, how the company promoted themselves and the price of seats! Some were produced for travelling theatre companies and these leave blanks in place of dates or venues.

Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard II, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet are the Shakespeare plays that crop up most often. But if we were to watch these plays we may be surprised to see how they had been adapted to suit changing tastes, from adding new characters or songs to changing the ending!

Adrian Edwards, British Library

This was particularly true when it came to performances out of London where, far from the eye of the critics and academics, there was more freedom to interpret Shakespeare’s work. Companies sometimes experimented by staging different versions of his work in the regions or 'provinces' as they were called at the time. It meant actors were also freer to experiment – such as the actress Sarah Siddons who played Hamlet on a limited number of occasions and only in the regions. We have a rare playbill for one of her performances in Liverpool dated 1778.

There are sketches, living tableaux and plays where Shakespeare appears as a character. There are also a number of pageants in honour of the Bard, and a play known as The Jubilee which was sparked by the first national event to honour the bard in 1769, organised by the actor-manager and adaptor, David Garrick.

Unlike today, Shakespeare tends to be part of a programme of entertainment which could include songs, farce, burlesques and plays by other dramatists. And he’s not always top of the bill – sometimes his work is performed as an afterpiece!

So sit back in your seat in the stalls and enjoy a cornucopia of Shakespeare, burlesques melodrama, historical epics and amateur productions. The cast includes some of the greatest actors and managers of their day from the Kembles, Macready, Kean, Henry Irving and Bram Stoker of Dracula fame. Then there’s the women who performed in the 18th and 19th centuries: Sarah Siddons, Charlotte Cushman, Ellen Terry and others. Also, the child stars such as the infant Kean, the Young Roscius (a term applied to actors of all ages), and Clara Fisher. There was the first black Othello – Ira Aldridge – an American actor who successfully toured the regions from the mid 1820s onwards.

We hope you enjoy their stories!