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Bruce "Sensation" Smith
Bruce Smith became a sensation due to his popular set design. During the Victorian time period, set design wasn't very complex or attention drawing. Smith was famously known for his work and changed theatre forever. He worked alongside some other people who were considered "one of the greats" who helped acheive the goal of being an amazing set designer. Smith used design in a way that no one else had before. Two of the set designs he was most famous for were "The Whip" and "Ben Hur". -
"Fifteen Years of a Drunkard's Life"
This play is commonly described as the prototype to melodramatic plays. In the article, "Nineteenth Century Melodrama", many people during this time were concerned with alcohol abuse. They wanted to send an encouraging message to remain sober. Jerrold's play shows two characters that meet in a drunken state and commit many crimes, one as serious as murdering his wife. While one murders his wife and loses all their money, the other loses the family farm and destroys his family's lives. -
Fitzball
In the article, "Nineteenth Century Melodrama", Fitzball was decribed as popular melodramatist who was successful in London for 25 years. He received his claim to fame for his staging his plays very well. He gets credit for inventing back projjection which is a method that projects shadows to add effect. Fitzball was most popular for his military and nautical melodrama, but was also capable of writing fiction and operas. -
"Black-Eyed Susan"
The theatrical production of Black-Eyed Susan used comedy and serious plots to show the audience the difference between good and evil; innocence and corruption; poverty and wealth (Nineteenth Century Melodrama). The plotline of this story revolved around a sailor who had just returned from the Napoleonic Wars to find his wife being beaten and tortured by her uncle and a captain. The sailor tried saving his wife but ended up in trouble for attacking a martial (Nineteenth Century Melodrama). -
"Murder at the Roadside Inn" by Fitzball
Fitzball was known for many great melodramas, one being "Murder at the Roadside Inn". According to "Nineteenth Century Melodrama", the play was about a man named Jonathan Bradford who had been sentenced to the death penalty for a murder that he did not commit. During the play, his children visit him one last time in prison before he is supposed to die. In one of the closing scenes, the audience hears him wonder what his children's lives will become without him. -
The Victorian Age
Queen Victoria's reign lasted from 1837 until 1901. During this time, theatre was becoming more popular. Her reign was known as one where a lot of growth and prosperity happened (Nineteenth Century Melodrama).Theatre began to attract larger audiences during this era. Eventually, social class didn't matter and everyone, rich or poor, could attend. The melodramatic Victorian era had a large influence on the popularity of theatre today (Nineteenth Century Melodrama). -
"God's Revenge Against Murder"
This play never had one identified author, although it's one of the most famous of its time. In the article, "Nineteenth Century Melodrama", the author discusses that this melodramtic play was written based off a real crime. William Corder had murdered his lover and disposed of her body in a barn.He sent letters to her family to tell she was healthy. The stepmother of the deceased had a dream her daughter was murdered which led to the discovering of her body. Corder was publicly hanged in 1828. -
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution changed the lives of everyone. The revolution created a much larger middle class and working class, where everyone's lives were monotonous (Nineteenth Century Melodrama). Melodramatic theatre was the product of a major social change. More people attended theatres because they craved a sense of excitement in their lives. Theatre allowed for them to do so, while also still viewing ideas that went along with their morals and beliefs (Nineteenth Century Melodrama). -
Rene Charles Guilbert
According to the Brittanica Encyclopedia, Guilbert wrote more than one hundred popular melodramas. He was the most successful in Paris. The theatres in Paris were not filled with an audience that saw his work as offensive. He wrote and directed all of his own plays so that he could focus on what he believed to be the most important. He believed that having a realistic stage and props was vital to the success of his storytelling. Guilbert began this trend and it has stuck since the 1800s. -
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was famously known for her acting career. She was a French actress that participated in what we now call cross-dressing. Bernhardt played a lot of roles that required her to play a male, which meant she had to dress and act like one. Her profession was extremely controversial (Nineteenth Century Romanticism). Between 1880 and 1917, she completed nine world tours for theatre productions. Bernhardt had been acting since she was a teenager, but her global presence began in the 80s.
