The Economics of the British Stage 1800–1914

by Tracy C. Davis

• ISBN13: 9780521036856
• ISBN10: 0521036852
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-06-21
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

During the nineteenth century, British theatre developed into an industry with considerable importance in the economy, diversified by whole new forms of entertainment - first music hall then cinema - evolving alongside the dramatic stage. This is the first comprehensive study to examine the theatre's growth from an economic perspective. Tracy Davis reflects the debates of economic theorists from Adam Smith to Alfred Marshall to investigate three key areas: the state's role in protecting theatre; the factors affecting the success or failure of theatre companies; and how theatre came to be regarded as one of the 'service industries'. By grounding debates about subsidization and the economic viability of the live arts in an era predating government funding, Davis sheds light on the history of cultural policy for the arts in Britain. Her book will interest scholars across a range of disciplines - theatre, social history, economics, gender studies and the sociology of culture.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations

List of figures

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Note to readers

Introduction

Competition: Theatre and Laissez-Faire

Monopoly and free trade: fair and unfair competition

Property and the stakes of private interest

Industrial regulation and safety

Marginal economics, national interest and the half-naked woman

Ownership and Entrepreneurialism

Opportunity, finance and failure

Profit

Business structures

Gender, 'gentlemanly capitalism' and the wo-manager

Industrialization, Commodity Capitalism and Theatre Production Systems

Labour and labourers

Theatre as cultural capital

Appendix: 'To the public. Charles Kemble's mercies or the '999' increasing'

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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