Theatre in the Victorian Age by Michael R. Booth (review)

622 Book Reviews the public response to them, he also provides insights into Antoine's directorial personality (he was an autocratic perfectionist), his working methods, his managerial policies, and his influences. The subject is treated in rough chronological fashion in nine chapters. Fifty-four illustrations - many of staging diagrams - are provided, all of them well explained both in captions and in the consistently lucid text. One appendix displays a two-columned chronology of Antoine's life; another notes his production history. A select bibliography of French and English sources is included, but it is a bit too "select," and omits some of the only important Antoine studies in English, such as Langdon Brown's on Antoine's King Lear or Patti Gillespie's on the breakthroughs of his later period. Even the English edition of Antoine's memoirs is ignored. Antoine is eminently worthy of respect as one of the most impressive and influential metteurs en scene in directorial history, one whose impact stemmed not simply from naturalistic plays and performances but from a surprisingly catholic view of the best in world drama. He was responsible for outstandingly lifelike ensemble acting, notable stage groupings, an exceptional use of color and stage lighting (especially chiaroscuro effects), and new approaches to the mise en scene that often eschewed literal accuracy in favor of artistic effect. Nevertheless, his major drawback was his commitment to a fundamentally illusionistic view of stage reality; unlike his similarly eclectic contemporary Max Reinhardt, he was unable completely to break through the confines of the fourth wall and rely on the elasticity of the audience's imagination. SAMUEL L. LEITER, BROOKLYN COLLEGE, CUNY MICHAEL R. BOOTH Theatre ill the Victorian Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1991. pp. 21S, illustrated. $49.50; $16.95 (PB). This is a well organised and concise summary of Victorian theatre practices. Like the earlier volume from Cambridge on this subject - George Rowell's The Victorian Theatre 1792-1914 (2nd edn 1978) - it not only attempts to be comprehensive - with separate chapters on theatre and society, management, playhouse and production, the actor, and dramatists and the drama - but it also includes a generous selection of illustrations, some of which haven't been published before. Unlike Rowell, however, it doesn't contain a thorough bibliography of primary and secondary sources in Victorian theatre and drama. Instead i~ provides a selective annotated bibliography, footnotes in the main text, and a helpful chronological table listing important theatrical , social, and historical events. The footnoted material tends to be from commonplace sources, however, although Booth has done some sleuthing in backfiles of The Theatre, and occasionally cites recherche books, such as George Wightwick's Theatricals , 45 Years Ago (Portishead, 1862), Thomas Purnell's Dramatists of the Present Day (London, IS71), and O. A. Sala's Twice Round the Clock (London, IS59). He also makes· extensive use of three parliamentary Select Committee Reports (1832, 1866, and 1892) which contain a wealth of statistical data along with quoted remarks Book Reviews about censorship, licensing regulations, the role of theatre in society, and other (sometimes controversial) themes. The pressure to condense has meant, however, that both primary sources and recent scholarship are not as systematically acknowledged as they could be. Booth excels at the kind of descriptive theatre history which marshalls a wide body of evidence into a lucid and seamless narrative. For this reason alone his book can be safely recommended to students wanting to know more about, for example, how limelight worked, how and why the forestage disappeared, what a manager's responsibilities were, and where the grooves, wings, shutters, sloats, and bridges were located and operated. As well. he provides information about topics which tend to be overlooked or given cursory treatment in standard histories: for instance, the patterns of population growth in the main urban centres, the development of theatres of various types - including music halls and penny gaffs - in London's East End, the exact impact of recessions on theatre business, the financial implications of touring productions throughout the British empire, and the thematic formations - such as the father-daughter relationship - recurring in different dramatic genres. Some attention is also devoted to the larger social and cultural context...