During the 1820s and 30s nautical melodramas "reigned supreme" on London stages, entertaining the mariners and maritime workers who comprised a large part of the audience for small theatres. These plays mixed sentimental moments and comic interludes of domestic melodrama with patriotic images that communicated and reinforced imperial themes.
However, generally the study of British theatre history moves from medieval and renaissance plays directly to the realism and naturalism of late Victorian and modern drama. Readers typically encounter a gap between Restoration and eighteenth-century plays like those of Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and late-nineteenth plays by Henrik Ibsen and Oscar Wilde. Nineteenth-century drama, with the possible exception of plays by Byron, Shelley, and Wordsworth, remains all but invisible. Until recently, melodramatic plays written and performed during this "gap" received little scholarly attention, but their value as reflections of Britain’s promulgation of imperial ideology — and its role in constructing and maintaining class, gender, and racial identities — have given discussions of melodrama force and momentum.
The plays included in these three volumes have never appeared in a critical anthology and most have not been republished since their original nineteenth-century editions. Each play is transcribed from original documents and includes an author biography, a headnote about the play itself, full annotations with brief definitions of unfamiliar vocabulary, and explanatory notes. Comprehensive editorial apparatus details the nineteenth-century imperial, naval, political, and social history relevant to the plays’ nautical themes, as well as discussing nineteenth-century theatre history, melodrama generally, and the nautical melodrama in particular. Contemporary theatre practices — acting, audiences, staging, lighting, special effects — are also examined. An extensive bibliography of primary and secondary texts; a complete index; and contemporary images of the actors, theatres, stage sets, playbills, costumes, and locales have been compiled to aid study further.
Author(s): Arnold Schmidt
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 1227
City: London
Cover
Volume1
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of Images
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Editorial Policies
Glossary
Notable Theatres and People
Bibliography
General Introduction
Volume I: Plays
1: Bound ’Prentice to a Waterman, or, the Flower of Woolwich
Author Introduction: Andrew L. V. Campbell (1789–1870)
Play Introduction
Andrew L. V. Campbell, Bound ’Prentice to a Waterman, or, The Flower of Woolwich (Sadler’s Wells, 1836)
2: Rule Britannia; or, The Female Sacrifice
Play Introduction
Andrew L. V. Campbell, Rule Britannia; or, The Female Sacrifice (Sadler’s Wells, 1836)
3: The Pirate; or, The Wild Woman of Zetland
Author Introduction: Thomas John Dibdin (1771–1841)
Play Introduction
Thomas John Dibdin, The Pirate; or, The Wild Woman of Zetland (Surrey, 1822)
4: The Floating Beacon; or, Norwegian Wreckers
Author Introduction: Edward Fitzball (1792–1873)
Play Introduction
Edward Fitzball, The Floating Beacon, or, Norwegian Wreckers (Surrey, 1824)
5: The Flying Dutchman; or, The Phantom Ship
Play Introduction
Edward Fitzball, The Flying Dutchman; or, The Phantom Ship (Adelphi, 1826)
6: Nelson, or, “Britannia Rules the Waves”
Play Introduction
Edward Fitzball, Nelson, or, “Britannia Rules the Waves” (Adelphi, 1827)
7: The Pilot; or, a Tale of the Sea
Play Introduction
Edward Fitzball, The Pilot; or, a Tale of the Sea (Adelphi, 1825)
8: Tom Cringle’s Log, or, Mat of the Iron Hand
Play Introduction
Edward Fitzball, Tom Cringle’s Log, or, Mat of the Iron Hand (Surrey, 1834)
Volume2
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Volume II: Plays
9: Breakers Ahead! Or A Seaman’s Log!
Author Introduction: John Thomas Haines (1798/9–1843)
Play introduction
John Thomas Haines, Breakers Ahead! Or, A Seaman’s Log! (Victoria, 1837)
10: My Poll and My Partner Joe
Play Introduction
John Thomas Haines, My Poll and My Partner Joe (Surrey, 1835)
11: The Ocean of Life; or, “Every Inch a Sailor!”
Play Introduction
John Thomas Haines, The Ocean of Life; or, “Every Inch a Sailor!” (Surrey, 1836)
12: Rattlin the Reefer; or, The Tiger of the Sea!
Play Introduction
John Thomas Haines, Rattlin the Reefer: or, The Tiger of the Sea! (Victoria, 1836)
13: The Wizard of the Wave; or, The Ship of the Avenger
Play Introduction
John Thomas Haines, The Wizard of the Wave; or, The Ship of the Avenger (Victoria, 1840)
14: Black Eyed Susan; or “All in the Downs!”
Author Introduction: Douglas William Jerrold (1803–1857)
Play Introduction
Douglas William Jerrold, Black Eyed Susan; or “All in the Downs!” (Surrey, 1829)
15: Descart, the French Buccaneer
Play Introduction
Douglas William Jerrold, Descart, the French Buccaneer (Coburg, 1828)
16: Mutiny at the Nore; or British Sailors in 1797
Play Introduction
Douglas William Jerrold, Mutiny at the Nore; or British Sailors in 1797: (Royal Pavilion, 1830)
Volume3
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Volume III: Plays
17: Shipwreck of the Medusa; or, the Fatal Raft!
Author Introduction: William Gibbs Thomas Moncrieff (1794–1857)
Play Introduction
William Thomas Moncrieff, Shipwreck of the Medusa; or, the Fatal Raft! (Coburg, 1820)
18: Mr. Midshipman Easy!
Author Introduction: William Henry Oxberry (1808–1852)
Author Introduction: James Gann
Play Introduction
William Henry Oxberry and James Gann, Mr. Midshipman Easy! (Surrey, 1837)
19: Robinson Crusoe; or, the Bold Buccaniers
Author Introduction: Isaac Innes Pocock (1782–1835)
Play Introduction
Isaac Pocock, Robinson Crusoe; or The Bold Buccaniers (Covent Garden, 1817)
20: The Fall of Algiers, By Sea and Land
Author Introduction: C. A. Somerset (18??–1853)
Play Introduction
Charles A. Somerset, The Fall of Algiers, By Sea and Land (Astley’s, 1830)
21: “The Sea!”
Play Introduction
Charles A. Somerset, “The Sea!” (Queens, 1834)
22: The Cabin Boy
Author Introduction: Edward Stirling (1811–1894)
Play Introduction
Edward Stirling, The Cabin Boy (Adelphi, 1846)
23: Penmark Abbey
Author Introduction: Thomas James Thackeray (1796–1877)
Play Introduction
Thomas James Thackeray, Penmark Abbey (1840)
24: Ben the Boatswain, or, Sailors’ Sweethearts!
Author Introduction: Thomas Egerton Wilks (1812?–1854)
Play Introduction
Thomas Egerton Wilks, Ben the Boatswain, or, Sailors’ Sweethearts! (Surrey, 1839)
