Amateur performanceArchives - Poor theatres: theatre, performance, poverty

Audible and voluble expressions – part 2 (1887)

admin-poor — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 05:24:30 +0000

Post by Jenny Hughes I’ve been researching theatrical entertainments in Victorian workhouses, and have come across an extraordinary range of work that might be described as ‘fledgling’ social theatre from the 19th century, from missionary and temperance theatricals to solidarity and charity performances by popular performers, to amateur performances by […]

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‘Humanising our public spaces’ – part 2

admin-poor — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 14:37:57 +0000

Post by Jenny Hughes This is a follow up to the ‘Humanising our public spaces’ and ‘A unique partnership’ blog posts – giving an overview of the Octagon Theatre’s partnership with Bolton at Home, and Bolton at Home’s wonderful Percent for Art scheme. As noted on previous posts – the partnership between this major […]

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The Imaginarium of Doctor Booth

Naomi Paxton — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:34:11 +0000

Post by Naomi Paxton The Imaginarium of Doctor Booth was a piece written by Janine Waters, the artistic director of The Edge Theatre and Arts Centre in Chorlton, Manchester. Waters has been running weekly drama sessions at the Booth Centre, a day centre for homeless people, for many years – […]

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‘The Beggar’s Theatre’ (1931)

admin-poor — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 20:15:30 +0000

Post by Jenny Hughes Somebody recently showed me an interesting account of a poor theatre from a book about theatre audiences published in 1931. The book, called Gallery unreserved written by ‘A Galleryite’, offers a series of revelatory anecdotes about the views, feelings and experiences of those who queued for the ‘cheap seats’ in […]

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Pop up paupers, pathways and pauper mice at the Workhouse, Southwell

admin-poor — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:43:42 +0000

Post by Jenny Hughes On Sunday 24th August I went with Carran Waterfield from Triangle Theatre to the Workhouse at Southwell (Nottinghamshire). The workhouse was bought by the National Trust in 1997 and renovated with loving care and no expense spared to a condition as close to the original as possible, opening […]

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Songs and recitations in the workhouse (2) – ‘Home Sweet Home’

admin-poor — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 16:48:05 +0000

Here is another post on songs and recitations in the workhouse (relating to the performance of the Orpheus glee club at the opening of Dearnley workhouse in Rochdale in 1877 – see ‘Songs and recitations in the workhouse – ‘A Fine Old English Gentleman’ blog post below). Given that we […]

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Songs and recitations in the workhouse – ‘A Fine Old English Gentleman’

admin-poor — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 13:34:43 +0000

Post by Jenny Hughes As noted in ‘The only way is Rochdale 3’ (blog post below) – the Orpheus Glee club performed at the opening of Dearnley workhouse in Rochdale and at the Christmas treat for paupers that followed a week or so later, and their repertoire may have included […]

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The only way is Rochdale (3)

admin-poor — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 08:22:39 +0000

Post by Jenny Hughes To return to the records of entertainments taking place in Dearnley workhouse in Rochdale during the final third of the 19th century (see previous posts – The only way is Rochdale 1 and 2). I found at least one entertainment for each month of the years […]

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Love on the workhouse stage

admin-poor — Wed, 28 May 2014 12:02:08 +0000

Post by Jenny Hughes The Pall Mall Gazette on 6 June 1900 included a slightly ‘arched’ report on the extraordinary care for the ‘aged poor’ in a workhouse in Copenhagen, who are provided with ‘a theatre of their own to which they may go in the evening’. To ensure readers […]

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The only way is Rochdale (1) …

admin-poor — Thu, 22 May 2014 11:06:29 +0000

Post by Jenny Hughes One of the ways I am taking this research forward is to focus on a specific locality – Rochdale in Lancashire, home of the Rochdale Pioneers and the cooperative movement, and a centre of Chartist fervour leading up to and around the period of the Reform […]

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