Issue Details: First known date: 2017... 2017 'The Elasticity of Her Spirits' : Actresses and Resilience on the Nineteenth-Century Colonial Stage
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Eliza Winstanley (1818 - 82) and Maria Taylor (1805? - 41) were English-born actors who were among the early leading performers in Barnett Levey's acting company at his Theatre Royal in George Street, Sydney. Taylor's parents were 'singing actors' who, in the first years of the nineteenth century, performed at London's Haymarket and Covent Garden theatres, and were regularly engaged for the summer seasons in provincial theatres. Winstanley also came from a theatrical family - her father was a scenic painter and her younger sister Ann was a performer. This article describes how Maria Taylor and Eliza Winstanley brought their theatrical skills and resilience to the task of building a theatrical culture in Australia. Both women faced many challenges in their personal and professional lives but both possessed the capacity to bounce back, continuing to practise and refine their craft in difficult circumstances.' (Publication abstract)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australasian Drama Studies no. 70 April 2017 11351690 2017 periodical issue

    'In the fortieth year of the Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, this seventieth issue of its journal continues to publish a remarkably diverse range of articles from a continuously evolving set of disciplines. The collection is presented in roughly chronological order, beginning with two articles exploring aspects of Australia's colonial past. Jane Woollard's richly detailed account of the different styles and careers of two of Australia's best known nineteenth-century actresses is followed by an article in which William Dunstone and Helena Grehan revisit the history of performance on the Western Australian Goldfields through the lens of cultural geography.' (Editorial introduction)

    2017
    pg. 7-34
Last amended 12 Dec 2018 08:32:32
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