Theatre and Celebrity in Britain 1660-2000

by Luckhurst, Mary

• ISBN13: 9781403946829
• ISBN10: 1403946825
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-01-13
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

These exciting essays explore aspects of fame, notoriety and transgression in a wide range of performers and playwrights including David Garrick, Oscar Wilde, Ellen Terry, Laurence Olivier and Sarah Kane, examining the ingenious ways in which these stars have negotiated fame. The essays also analyze the complex relationships between discourses of celebrity and questions of gender, spectatorship and the operation of cultural markets.

Author Biography

Mary Luckhurst is Lecturer in Modern Drama, University of York.

Table of Contents

Introduction--M.Luckhurst & J.Moody * The Rivals: Quin, Garrick and Theatrical Celebrity in 1740s--P.Thomson * Women Players as Properties: Creating Celebrity--F.Nussbaum * The Invention of Samuel Foote: Selling Celebrity--J.Moody * Sarah Siddons and the Body of the Celebrity Actress--S.West * Sex, Transgression and Public Opinion: Edmund Keen and 'The Thunderer'--J.Bratton * Performing Virtue: Sexual Reputation, Celebrity and the Victorian Actress--S.Eltis * Wilde: 'The Remarkable Rocket'--P.Raby * Negotiating Celebrity: The Disappearance of Clemence Dane--M.Gale * Laurence Olivier: A Problem of Po(i)se--P.Holland * The Death of the Author: Sarah Kane and the 1990s--M.Luckhurst * The Illusion of Privacy: 1660 to the Present Day--J.Roach * Index