Theatres of Value

Buying and Selling Shakespeare in Nineteenth-Century New York City

Danielle Rosvally

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781438498331, 9781438498348
• eBook ISBN: 9781438498355
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: North American History

Explores the value of Shakespeare for theatrical businesspeople and audiences in nineteenth-century New York City.

Theatres of Value explores the idea that buying and selling are performative acts and offers a paradigm for deeper study of these acts-"the dramaturgy of value." Modeling this multifaceted approach, the book explores six case studies to show how and why Shakespeare had value for nineteenth-century New Yorkers. In considering William Brown's African Theater, P. T. Barnum's American Museum and Lecture Hall, Fanny Kemble's American reading career, the Booth family brand, the memorial statue of Shakespeare in Central Park, and an 1888 benefit performance of Hamlet to theatrical impresario Lester Wallack, Theatres of Value traces a history of audience engagement with Shakespearean cultural capital and the myriad ways this engagement was leveraged by theatrical businesspeople.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction Deriving a Dramaturgy of Value
• Chapter One What William Brown Knew: The African Theatre and the Growing Threat of Legitimacy
• Chapter Two The Value of a Name: P. T. Barnum’s American D
• Chapter Three Taking the Reins: The American Reading Career of Mrs. Fanny Kemble
• Chapter Four Both Booth’s Brothers: The Bulletproof Brand
• Chapter Five Our American Shakespeare: The Central Park Statue and National Identity
• Chapter Six Erasing the Lines: Editing the Wallack Benefit
• Conclusion The Dramaturgy of Value at Large
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Back Cover