From 1855 until 1863; the Marsh Troupe of Juvenile Comedians; a professional acting company of approximately thirty children; entertained audiences with their nuanced performances of adult roles on stages around the globe. In Childhood and Nineteenth-Century American Theatre: The Work of the Marsh Troupe of Juvenile Actors; author Shauna Vey provides an insightful account not only of this unique antebellum stage troupe but also of contemporary theatre practices and the larger American culture; including shifts in the definition of childhood itself. Looking at the daily work lives of five members of the Marsh Troupemdash;the father and manager; Robert Marsh; and four child performers; Mary Marsh; Alfred Stewart; Louise Arnot; and Georgie Marshmdash;Vey reveals the realities of the antebellum theatre and American society: the rise of the nineteenth-century impresario; the emerging societal constructions of girlhood and goodness; the realities of child labor; the decline of the apprenticeship model of actor training; shifts in gender roles and the status of working women; and changes in the economic models of theatre production; including the development of the stock company system. Both a microhistory of a professional theatre company and its juvenile players in the decade before the Civil War and a larger narrative of cultural change in the United States; Childhood and Nineteenth-Century American Theatre sheds light on how childhood was idealized both on and off the stage; how the role of the child in society shifted in the nineteenth century; and the ways economic value and sentiment contributed to how children were viewed.
#1197106 in eBooks 2004-08-15 2004-08-15File Name: B0166ZODIW
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