Theatre in Victorian England grew dramatically between 1800-1843, expanding from two theaters to many in London's West End. New technologies like lighting and hydraulics enhanced productions, while melodrama became popular. Notable dramatists of the time included Shakespeare, Dickens, and Oscar Wilde, who wrote plays like Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest that premiered in the 1890s to critical and financial success. Theatre reflected the social and technological changes occurring during this period in England.
8. A Woman of No
Importance
• 19 April 1893
• Haymarket
Theatre
• Herbert Beerbohm
Tree
9. An Ideal
Husband
• 3 Jan. 1895
• Haymarket
Theatre
• Lewis Waller
• Success until
April
10. The
Importance
of Being
Earnest
• St. James’ Theatre
• Allan Aynesworth
• Evelyn Millard
• Irene Vanbrugh
• George Alexander
• Actor manager of
St. James
14February1895
12. Works Cited
• Auerbach, Nina. “Before the Curtain.” The Cambridge Companion to
Victorian and Edwardian Theatre, Edited by Kerry Powell, Cambridge
University Press, 2004, pp. 3-14.
• Bratton, Jack. “Theater in the 19th Century.” British Library,
www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/19th-century-theatre,
Accessed 6 October 2016.
• “The Importance of Being Earnest: The First Stage Production, 1895.”
Victoria and Albert Museum, www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-
importance-of-being-earnest-first-stage-production. Accessed 6 October
2016.
• Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Dover, 1993.
• Newey, Katherine and Jeffery Richards. “John Ruskin at the Theatre.”
John Ruskin and the Victorian Theatre, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, 1-18.
Editor's Notes
Covent Garden and Drury Lane
1892, 1893, 1895, 1895
St James’ Theater
Lewis Waller as sir robert chiltern
First night of the show
Prince of Wales was present– Edward VII
Allan Aynesworth- Algernon
Evelyn Millard- Cecily
Irene Vanbrugh- Gwendolyn Fairfax
George Alexander- Jack
One of the best actor managers
Made St. James theater one of the most successful theaters in london
“Curtain Raiser” began at 8:30. One act play