With Dr Julian Waite

In the second half of the nineteenth century there was a fashion for actor reminiscences.  Most of these were sanitised accounts of famous actors of the day, but one or two depict the real struggle of the ‘jobbing’ actor.

In this illustrated lecture Dr Julian Waite will introduce the world of the not so famous Victorian actor through the published diary of a female actor, Alma Ellerslie, and a newly discovered manuscript diary of stock actor and writer Hugh Moss.  This lecture uses original research Julian has done for a forthcoming book about Victorian cartoonist and actor Marie Duval whose minor theatre career was comparable to Moss and Ellerslie’s.  Find out about the scandals, the devious management, the excitement of getting that theatre ‘engagement’, the flea-ridden digs and the tedium of life on the road learning two or three new parts a week.

Lunchtime Lectures is a collaboration between Storyhouse and the University of Chester, providing an open platform for debate on a range of topics and fascinating subjects.

They take place on the third Tuesday of each month.