The Theatrical Manager in Britain and America

From Philip Henslowe to David Merrick, the producer or theatre manager has generally been seen as a combination of Shylock and Simon Legree, usurer and slavedriver, wholly concerned with profit and loss, indifferent to art and artists. Yet no single person has greater responsibility in what George Henry Lewes called the “perilous game” of play production. The essays in this volume examine five English and American theatrical managers, from the Elizabethan period to the twentieth century: Philip Henslowe, Tate Wilkinson, Stephen Price, Edwin Booth, and Charles Wyndham. The contributors, who evaluate the relationship of each manager to the drama of his time, include Bernard Beckerman, Charles Beecher Hogan, Benard Hewitt, Charles Shattuck, and George Rowell. Joseph Donohue’s essay, “The Theatrical Manager and the Uses of Theatrical Research,” introduces the volume. Originally published in 1971. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press.These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.