ACTORS

The theatre was one of the most popular forms of entertainment outside the home in Victorian Britain, encouraged by the 1843 Theatres Regulation Act. This reversed the powers of the Lord Chamberlain to prohibit certain plays under the 1737 Licensing Act, and empowered local authorities to license new theatres, breaking a monopoly of patent theatres and encouraging new types of performances. Actors now had to become increasingly flexible in their ability to play tragedy and comedy, sing and dance, and act in pantomimes in music halls, comedies and burlesques.

In the early days, the repertoire had been more restrained as theatre managers tended to stick to Shakespeare, using well-known actors in a world