Harlequin Toft; Or, Imposture, Pantomime, and the Instabilities of Satire in the Early Eighteenth Century”
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Joseph Grimaldi
Joseph Grimaldi The most famous and popular of all the clowns in harlequinade and pantomime was Joseph Grimaldi. Despite his Italian name and family origins, he was born in London in 1779, dying in 1837. His style of clowning had its origins in the Italian commedia dell'arte of the sixteenth century, but in the popular Harlequinades of the early nineteenth century he emerged as the founding father of modern day clowns. To this day he is commemorated annually by clowns in their own church, Holy Trinity in Dalston, East London. Joseph Grimaldi was the original 'Clown Joey', the term 'Joey' being used to describe clowns since his day. Of his own name he punned 'I am grim all day - but I make you laugh at night!' Grimaldi became the most popular clown in pantomime, and was responsible for establishing the clown as the main character in the Harlequinade, in place of Harlequin. His career began at the age of three at the Sadler's Wells Theatre. He was later to become the mainstay of the Drury Lane Theatre before settling in at Covent Garden in 1806. His three year contract paid him one pound a week, rising to two pounds the following year, and finally three pounds a week. His debut at Covent Garden was in 'Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg' in 1806. Grimaldi himself had little faith in the piece, and undoubtedly it was hastily put together on a sparsely decorated stage. However, the production ran for 92 nights, and took over £20,000. The lack of great theatrical scenes allowed Grimaldi to project himself to the fore 'he shone with unimpeded brilliance' once critic wrote. -
The Dublin Gate Theatre Archive, 1928 - 1979
Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections Northwestern University Libraries Dublin Gate Theatre Archive The Dublin Gate Theatre Archive, 1928 - 1979 History: The Dublin Gate Theatre was founded by Hilton Edwards (1903-1982) and Micheál MacLiammóir (1899-1978), two Englishmen who had met touring in Ireland with Anew McMaster's acting company. Edwards was a singer and established Shakespearian actor, and MacLiammóir, actually born Alfred Michael Willmore, had been a noted child actor, then a graphic artist, student of Gaelic, and enthusiast of Celtic culture. Taking their company’s name from Peter Godfrey’s Gate Theatre Studio in London, the young actors' goal was to produce and re-interpret world drama in Dublin, classic and contemporary, providing a new kind of theatre in addition to the established Abbey and its purely Irish plays. Beginning in 1928 in the Peacock Theatre for two seasons, and then in the theatre of the eighteenth century Rotunda Buildings, the two founders, with Edwards as actor, producer and lighting expert, and MacLiammóir as star, costume and scenery designer, along with their supporting board of directors, gave Dublin, and other cities when touring, a long and eclectic list of plays. The Dublin Gate Theatre produced, with their imaginative and innovative style, over 400 different works from Sophocles, Shakespeare, Congreve, Chekhov, Ibsen, O’Neill, Wilde, Shaw, Yeats and many others. They also introduced plays from younger Irish playwrights such as Denis Johnston, Mary Manning, Maura Laverty, Brian Friel, Fr. Desmond Forristal and Micheál MacLiammóir himself. Until his death early in 1978, the year of the Gate’s 50th Anniversary, MacLiammóir wrote, as well as acted and designed for the Gate, plays, revues and three one-man shows, and translated and adapted those of other authors. -
Slater V. Baker and Stapleton (C.B. 1767): Unpublished Monographs by Robert D. Miller
SLATER V. BAKER AND STAPLETON (C.B. 1767): UNPUBLISHED MONOGRAPHS BY ROBERT D. MILLER ROBERT D. MILLER, J.D., M.S. HYG. HONORARY FELLOW MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOETHICS DEPARTMENT SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MADISON PRINTED BY AUTHOR MADISON, WISCONSIN 2019 © ROBERT DESLE MILLER 2019 BOUND BY GRIMM BOOK BINDERY, MONONA, WI AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION These unpublished monographs are being deposited in several libraries. They have their roots in my experience as a law student. I have been interested in the case of Slater v. Baker and Stapleton since I first learned of it in law school. I was privileged to be a member of the Yale School Class of 1974. I took an elective course with Dr. Jay Katz on the protection of human subjects and then served as a research assistant to Dr. Katz in the summers of 1973 and 1974. Dr. Katz’s course used his new book EXPERIMENTATION WITH HUMAN BEINGS (New York: Russell Sage Foundation 1972). On pages 526-527, there are excerpts from Slater v. Baker. I sought out and read Slater v. Baker. It seemed that there must be an interesting backstory to the case, but it was not accessible at that time. I then practiced health law for nearly forty years, representing hospitals and doctors, and writing six editions of a textbook on hospital law. I applied my interest in experimentation with human beings by serving on various Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) during that period. IRBs are federally required committees that review and approve experiments with humans at hospitals, universities and other institutions. -
Uniting Commedia Dell'arte Traditions with the Spieltenor Repertoire
UNITING COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE TRADITIONS WITH THE SPIELTENOR REPERTOIRE Corey Trahan, B.M., M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2012 APPROVED: Stephen Austin, Major Professor Paula Homer, Committee Member Lynn Eustis, Committee Member and Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Music James Scott, Dean of the School of Music James R. Meernik, Acting Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Trahan, Corey, Uniting Commedia dell’Arte Traditions with the Spieltenor repertoire. Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), May 2012, 85 pp., 6 tables, 35 illustrations, references, 84 titles. Sixteenth century commedia dell’arte actors relied on gaudy costumes, physical humor and improvisation to entertain audiences. The spieltenor in the modern operatic repertoire has a similar comedic role. Would today’s spieltenor benefit from consulting the commedia dell’arte’s traditions? To answer this question, I examine the commedia dell’arte’s history, stock characters and performance traditions of early troupes. The spieltenor is discussed in terms of vocal pedagogy and the fach system. I reference critical studies of the commedia dell’arte, sources on improvisatory acting, articles on theatrical masks and costuming, the commedia dell’arte as depicted by visual artists, commedia dell’arte techniques of movement, stances and postures. In addition, I cite vocal pedagogy articles, operatic repertoire and sources on the fach system. My findings suggest that a valid relationship exists between the commedia dell’arte stock characters and the spieltenor roles in the operatic repertoire. I present five case studies, pairing five stock characters with five spieltenor roles. -
Mothers, Monsters, Machines: Unnatural Maternities in Late Eighteenth-Century British Women's Writing Meghan Lorraine Burke
Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2007 Mothers, Monsters, Machines: Unnatural Maternities in Late Eighteenth-Century British Women's Writing Meghan Lorraine Burke Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES MOTHERS, MONSTERS, MACHINES: UNNATURAL MATERNITIES IN LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING By MEGHAN LORRAINE BURKE A Thesis submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2007 The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Meghan L. Burke defended on March 14, 2007. _______________________________ Candace Ward Professor Directing Thesis _______________________________ Eric Walker Committee Member _______________________________ Meegan Kennedy-Hanson Committee Member Approved: _____________________________________________ Nancy Warren Director of Graduate Studies, Department of English The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii Dedicated to Daryl Ann Burke, my own Ideal Mother, with thanks and love. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Candace Ward for her generous guidance, encouragement, and patience during every point of the evolution of this study. Not only were her insights integral at all stages of this project, but she also introduced me to Wollstonecraft when I was an undergraduate, and has led me through my growing love of eighteenth-century literature throughout my graduate career. I would also like to thank the members of my committee, Eric Walker and Meegan Kennedy, for their willingness to be part of this final project as well as the support and instruction they provided during all of my years here at FSU. -
From 'The Help of Grave and Modest Women' to 'The Care of Men of Sense' : the Transition from Female Midwifery to Male Obstetrics in Early Modern England
Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1988 From 'the help of grave and modest women' to 'the care of men of sense' : the transition from female midwifery to male obstetrics in early modern England Karen L. Smith Adams Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the European History Commons, and the Obstetrics and Gynecology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Smith Adams, Karen L., "From 'the help of grave and modest women' to 'the care of men of sense' : the transition from female midwifery to male obstetrics in early modern England" (1988). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3793. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5677 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Karen L. Smith Adams for the Master of Arts in History presented March 18, 1988. Title: From 'The Help of Grave and Modest Women' to 'The Care of Men of Sense': The Transition from Female Midwifery to Male Obstetrics in Early Modern England. APPROVED BY MEMBERS OF THE THESIS COMMITTEE: Ann Weikel, Chair Susan Karant-1~ \ \,, '''·· ... Michael Reardon Until the sixteenth century, childbirth in England was the exclusive domain of women and was orchestrated by the female midwife. By the end of the seventeenth century, / 2 university-educated and church-approved male physicians were systematically beginning to usurp the midwife's role in the lying-in room and to gradually assume authority and power over the process of childbirth. -
This Work Has Been Submitted to NECTAR, the Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research
This work has been submitted to NECTAR, the Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research. Conference or Workshop Item Title: The fears of a clown Creator: Mackley, J. S. Example citation: Mackley, J. S. (2016) The fears of a clown. PapeRr presented to: The Dark Fantastic: Sixth Annual Joint Fantasy Symposium, The University of Northampton, 02 December 2016. A Version: Presented version T http://nectar.Cnorthampton.ac.uk/9062/ NE The Fears of the Clown J.S. Mackley – University of Northampton “The clown may be the source of mirth, but - who shall make the clown laugh?” Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus Many of us read Stephen King’s IT before we were re-terrorised by Tim Curry’s portrayal of Pennywise the Clown and his psychotic mania in the 1990 mini-series. It is said that “Stephen King’s movie IT … did for clowns what Psycho did for showers and what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean.”1 But, many of us had already had our psyches attuned to the danger of clowns when we saw the scene in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film Poltergeist when we looked at the maniacal grinning face of the Robbie’s clown sitting on the chair during a thunderstorm. The viewers all knew that clown would come to life – changing from the friendly-faced doll, to the demonic entity that drags Robbie under the bed … For many of us, these two depictions of clowns may be the root of Coulrophobia – a “persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of clowns”. Clowns hover on the peripheries of our fears. -
1 the Late 18Th Century Harlequinade: a Migration from Stage to Book A
The late 18th century Harlequinade: a migration from stage to book A paper given at MIT4 The Work of Stories. May 5-8 2005 Cambridge MA. By Jacqueline Reid-Walsh Bishop’s University Draft copy only In late 18th century England attending theatre was a common cultural experience for people of different ages, genders and classes. Although the Licensing Act of 1737 had restricted spoken drama to two official London theatres: Convent Gardens and Drury Lane, (Mayer 5, Frow 18) people not only attended official theatres to see spoken drama but flocked to other venues to see different types of performances and spectacles ranging from the equestrian acts, to water spectaculars, to puppet shows and to different types of combination of musical, spoken and danced entertainments such as the opera, burletta, entr’act entertainments, and pantomime. Attending a theatrical performance was a participatory event since the audience socialized with one another and commented loudly and on occasion violently to the choice of actors, and the effects of the performance (Brewer Ch.8). Most popular theatrical performances did not have published scripts, nor were they conventionally authored. Mounting a pantomime was a collaborative effort for the designers’ names were usually included on the theatre bills and programs along with those of the actors while the playwright’s name was usually omitted. (http://www.peopleplayuk.org/collections/object.php?ter=true&ter_id=88&object_id=80 7&back=%2Fcollections%2Fdefault.php%3Fter_id%3D88) Very popular productions had spin-off texts such as fans, playing cards, or even house screens (Brewer 440-42) (note 1). -
MARY TOFT-THE RABBIT BREEDER by S
MARY TOFT-THE RABBIT BREEDER by S. A. SELIGMAN Being a representation of the frauds by which the Godliman woman carried on her pretended rabbit breeding, also of the simplicity of our Doctors by which they assisted to carry on that imposture, discovered their own skill and contributed to the mirth of His Majesty's liege subjects. NEVER can the Medical Profession have been made to appear so ridiculous in the eyes of the general public, and indeed of each other, than by the affair of Mary Toft in 1726. She lived at Godalming (Godlyman) where she had been born and bred. In I 720 she married Joshua Toft, junior, a poor journeyman clothier, and bore him three children. She could not read or write and was said to be of healthy, strong constitution, of a small size and of a very stupid and sullen temper. On 23 April 1726, as she was weeding in a field she saw a rabbit spring up near her. She and another woman working nearby tried to catch it but with- out success. Soon another rabbit sprang up and was also unsuccessfully pursued. This set her longing for a rabbit, being five weeks pregnant at the time. That night she dreamed of rabbits and for the next three weeks had a constant strong desire to eat them, being a delicacy which she could not afford. Seventeen weeks after the episode in the field, she developed colicky abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding and passed something like a lump of flesh, there being another similar happening three weeks later. -
MARY TOFT-THE RABBIT BREEDER by S
MARY TOFT-THE RABBIT BREEDER by S. A. SELIGMAN Being a representation of the frauds by which the Godliman woman carried on her pretended rabbit breeding, also of the simplicity of our Doctors by which they assisted to carry on that imposture, discovered their own skill and contributed to the mirth of His Majesty's liege subjects. NEVER can the Medical Profession have been made to appear so ridiculous in the eyes of the general public, and indeed of each other, than by the affair of Mary Toft in 1726. She lived at Godalming (Godlyman) where she had been born and bred. In I 720 she married Joshua Toft, junior, a poor journeyman clothier, and bore him three children. She could not read or write and was said to be of healthy, strong constitution, of a small size and of a very stupid and sullen temper. On 23 April 1726, as she was weeding in a field she saw a rabbit spring up near her. She and another woman working nearby tried to catch it but with- out success. Soon another rabbit sprang up and was also unsuccessfully pursued. This set her longing for a rabbit, being five weeks pregnant at the time. That night she dreamed of rabbits and for the next three weeks had a constant strong desire to eat them, being a delicacy which she could not afford. Seventeen weeks after the episode in the field, she developed colicky abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding and passed something like a lump of flesh, there being another similar happening three weeks later. -
Aquatic Drama Melynda Nuss Word Count: 2539
Aquatic Drama Melynda Nuss Word Count: 2539 Main Text: In the winter of 1804, Sadler’s Wells Theater diverted water from the New River to fill a shallow copper tank of water. There it staged shipwrecks and naval battles, fountains and spectacular effects. The playbills for its first show, The Siege of Gibraltar, advertised: a grand Naval Spectacle, presenting that memorable monument of British Glory, the Siege of Gibraltar; with an exact representation of the armament both by Land and Sea, of the combined forces of France and Spain, with real Men of War and Floating Batteries, built and rigged by professional men from his Majesty’s Dock Yards, and which float in a receptacle containing nearly 8000 cubic feet of real water (Nicoll 1930, p.42). Subsequent playbills hawked ‘real ships of 100, 74, and 60 guns, &c. built, rigged, and manoeuvred in the most correct manner’(Nicoll 1930, p. 43); the manager, Charles Dibdin, cast children for the parts of the drowning Spanish sailors struggling in the waves. Aquatic dramas – dramas which created spectacular effects using real water – were quite popular during the Romantic period. At both legitimate and illegitimate theaters in London and in the provinces, audiences could enjoy lakes and fountains, waterfalls, majestic seas and fairy grottoes made out of real water. The first record of a water tank at the major houses comes from the 1794 remodeling of Drury Lane, where the tanks were installed as much for fire protection as for spectacular effects. But aquatic drama quickly caught on, especially at Sadler’s Wells, where the theater’s proximity to the New River and its manager’s fondness for nautical subjects made it the center of the aquatic craze. -
Burlesque/Pantomime] Lib Adapt
1894 CINDER-ELLEN UP-TOO-LATE; OR, HARLEQUIN, THE LOVER, THE LACKEY, AND THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER: [burlesque/pantomime] Lib Adapt. Percy St John; Mus. [n/e] Most likely an updated and revised version of St John's burlesque of his Cinderella pantomime, the extent to which these three productions are related is presently unclear. It is also unclear what, if any, relationship the burlesque has with the similarly named A.C. Torr (aka Fred Leslie) and W.T. Vincent production from 1891. That work, first staged at Melbourne's Princess Theatre in 1891 (22 Aug.) and reproduced in Sydney beginning 5 October, pre-dates the St John burlesque but not his pantomime.1 The most probable difference between St John's Cinderella pantomime (1890), Cinderella burlesque (1891) and his Cinder- Ellen burlesque (1894) was an increased focus on both satire and the lampooning of the Cinderella story. In relation to the satirical content, the Brisbane Courier records in its review of the opening night of the 1894 Gaiety Theatre season (possibly the first production of the burlesque version) that "various local celebrities came in for hard knocks more or less severe," and that as a result "the laughter was hearty and frequent." The review further records that one of the newly-written topical songs, "In Nineteen Hundred and One" (a trio performed by Messrs. Callaghan, Jones and York), was "much superior to the usual stage topical song" being "brimful of clever local hits" ("Gaiety," 6). Insight into the storyline and settings can be found in the 15 February issue of Charters Towers newspaper the Northern Miner: In the first scene of Act I, the fairly dell, where Cinder-Ellen meets the Prince, a fairy chorus and dance - very pretty and tasteful - is given.