I'm transcibing genres and there are large numbers of marked titles of future performances, which are not supposed to be marked. I'm transcribing their genres, but shouldn't these titles have been weeded out? Or does that come later.
johnjo
- Apr '21
- Joined Aug '18
- In Play genres
I'm transcibing genres and there are large numbers of marked titles of future performances, which are not supposed to be marked. I'm transcribing their genres, but shouldn't these titles have been weeded out? Or does that come later.
- In Play genres
I'm transcibing genres and there are large numbers of marked titles of future performances, which are not supposed to be marked. I'm transcribing their genres, but shouldn't these titles have been weeded out? Or does that come later.
johnjo That link went to the collection but not the right bill. Hope this one works
http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100022589126.0x000002#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=115&xywh=190%2C2617%2C2436%2C1613A terrible "accident" and what the theatre and Betty did to make some kind of amends.
http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100022589126.0x000002>
screenshot-2020-06-05-physical-force-military-science-from-the-monmouthshire-merlin-at-the-present-moment-agitated-as-th.png
Here is a bill where the "W" appears in two forms in what appears to be the same font, but in two sizes - as in Gown and Twemlow
http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100022589126.0x000002#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=104&xywh=-2295%2C0%2C7363%2C4876- In Typos?!
Not a good look to get the title wrong. Paired Off!
http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100022589148.0x000002#?cv=221 I am amazed by the expert responses to my curiosity about a W! They have opened up a subject that I knew little about, although my late father was in print all his life (as was his father), starting from being a compositor in the 1930s until his work, in the 1960s and later, involved in projects to develop the uses of computers in printing. I am sure he would have enjoyed this thread and may have known something of the subject himself, though his speciality, until he was pushed into management, was the highly complex typography of mathematical and scientific publications. My first holiday job was sweeping the floor in the large comp room at Santype in Salisbury, making sure to separate the dropped bits (sorts?) for recasting. The "casters" in the adjoining department was a hot and noisy place. Forgive my personal digression!
http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100022589100.0x000002#?cv=380
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This odd "w" font appears a lot on bills for Wolverhampton. Here next to an "n" which is very similar.
- In Typos?!
- In Typos?!
screenshot-2020-05-14-mark-titles-a-collection-of-playbills-from-miscellaneous-wolverhampton-theatres-1794-1819.png
An R too far!
Interesting and thought-provoking points and links, especially the Guardian article about Saartjie Baartman - thank you. Just a further memory about the BBC's "Black and White Minstrel Show". The connection from the 19thc theatre to 1960s TV was greatly influenced by the huge popularity of Al Jolson, and the lead singers in the show aped his voice and gestures. Their medleys were often bits of Stephen Foster's songs and show tunes strung together. I've been reading Wiki on blackface, and it is a very complex and controversial subject to say the least. The number of well-known Hollywood and singing stars who performed in blackface is surprising, as I guess that the movies containing such routines haven't been shown on TV for a long time.
Beccabooks10. Gouffe sounds amazing. Yes, there are many instances of "man-monkeys", often tagged as such on the site, but also acrobats and gymnasts without a gimmick.. Real monkeys have been used in circuses for a long time - not sure if that continues. Less controversial are the many trained dogs like Carlo and Bruin. I have resisted commenting on the numerous acts which reek of racism today but were generally regarded as just entertainment, but this went on until quite recently. The BBC's Black and White Minstrel Show -mainly Welsh male singers -was hugely popular in the 60s on prime-time TV, continuing the black-face minstrel shows that appear on the playbills from the 19thc. A Jim Crow song was often on the old bills, usually sung by an actor in black-face, no doubt with the cod dialect, like "dem" for "them" etc., and the n word used commonly. There are occasional genuine visiting African-Americans who usually danced, sang slave songs, and were often portrayed as figures of fun, but sometimes acted in serious plays, most famously the American Ira Aldridge the "African Roscius", who played Othello and other leading parts after initially doing the stock slave routines. He settled in Britain and became a British citizen. Really, the theatre reflected society as it was at the time, and that is what is so interesting about the playbills, in all sorts of ways. It is like stepping into another time. The human exhibits were different, often just to be gawped at or prodded, or worse. Many could also be hired for private gatherings, as graphically portrayed in the film Black Venus.
This must be an in-joke reflecting the two plays' themes! I wonder if the wives felt the same.
screenshot-2020-02-11-transcribe-dates-a-collection-of-playbills-from-miscellaneous-theatres-pittenweem-sandwich-1777-185.png
The theatre in Salisbury has a few bills for plays for the benefit of "the poor". How the poor were defined, it doesn't say.
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Everyone who contributes to In the Spotlight will have seen bills, not for plays, but for "curiosities". Occasionally a magic horse or dog, but more often, a human being regarded as exotic. Examples are people of extraordinary size, large and small, such as the Corsican Fairy, but also someone of different appearance, or from "darkest" Africa, such as the Hottentot Venus. The Elephant Man also springs to mind. One of the benefits of viewing these bills is, for me, that we get a window into another time and sensibility. I have just watched the recent film "Black Venus", which graphically shows what this woman, Sara "Saartjie" Baartman , went through as an actor pretending to be a "Hottentot" savage for the entertainment of society, high and low. It's a hard watch, but a real eye-opener.
There are a lot of backs of bills in the Kings Lynn collection. Almost always have an MS financial total of takings for the night, sometimes an MS cast list, and the occasional personal comment. Will these go into the system (perhaps they are already there) and will remain there, but maybe untagged? How do you deal with lists of references of "not a playbill"? Or, am I worrying too much and should just get out more?!!