Fantasies of Empire: The Empire Theatre of Varieties and the Licensing Controversy of 1894

Abstract:

Theatrical censorship comes in many forms: in Britain, in particular, the licensing decisions of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office have long been the focus of scholarly investigation of censorship in the playhouse. Yet, even after the abolition of state censorship in 1968, the power of individuals to impose censorship on ethical grounds was clearly highlighted by the 1982 private prosecution brought against Michael Bogdanov, director of Howard Brenton’s Romans in Britain, on the grounds of gross indecency, by the moral campaigner Mary Whitehouse. Although the charges were withdrawn prior to trial, Whitehouse’s action was a reminder of the power that individuals can wield in the name of the community-at-large as self-appointed standard bearers for moral probity. Less than a hundred years earlier and in vastly different circumstances, the attack on the ethical conduct of the Empire Theatre of Varieties, situated at the …

Año de publicación:

2008

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Fuente:

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