Childhood and Nineteenth-Century American Theatre: The Work of the Marsh Troupe of Juvenile Actors (Theater in the Americas)

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 Troupe—the father and manager, Robert Marsh, and four child performers, Mary Marsh, Alfred Stewart, Louise Arnot, and Georgie Marsh—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. The Marsh Troupe of Juvenile Actors Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Preface 12 Acknowledgments 14 Introduction 20 1. Beginnings and Success 33 2. First Losses, and a Battle Won 57 3. A Perfect Angel—Forever 81 4. Chasing Audiences and Aging Out 103 5. Tomboys Rule 118 6. Fathers and Sons 143 Afterword 161 Appendix 172 Notes 176 Bibliography 214 Index 228 Theater in the Americas 237 Other Books in the Theater in the Americas Series 238 Author Biography 240 Back Cover 241 Gathers scholars with diverse theoretical perspectives to interpret how ancient civilizations responded to various stresses, including environmental change, warfare, and the fragmentation of political institutions. Contributors discuss not only what makes societies collapse but also why some societies are resilient and others are not, as well as how societies reorganize after collapse. "This study of the daily work lives of five members of the Marsh Troupe, a nineteenth-century professional acting company composed primarily of children, sheds light on the construction of idealized childhood inside and outside the American theatre"-- Provided by publisher