A Star Actress at Christ Church in 1815: A Case Study of Regional Theatre in the Long Eighteenth Century

Please join us in Christ Church Upper Library for a free lunchtime talk by Professor Fiona Ritchie at 12 noon on Monday 10 March.

Professor Ritchie is Associate Professor of Drama and Theatre in the Department of English at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. She is currently a Fowler Hamilton Visiting Research Fellow at Christ Church, where she is working with the Brady Collection of Theatrical Ephemera held by the Library to investigate the history of women and theatre outside London in the long eighteenth century.

A Star Actress at Christ Church in 1815: A Case Study of Regional Theatre in the Long Eighteenth Century

In August 1815, Jackson’s Oxford Journal announced that the “celebrated and most admirable Comic Actress” and star of the London stage, Dorothy Jordan, would offer a handful of performances in Oxford. The venue for these appearances was a theatre in Blue Boar Lane, off St Aldate’s, where Christ Church’s Blue Boar Quad now stands. An investigation of the Blue Boar Theatre reveals that early nineteenth-century Oxford hosted not just celebrity actors but also child prodigies and even equestrian entertainments. This talk, drawn from Professor Ritchie’s current research project on women and regional theatre in Britain in the long eighteenth century, will explore the performance culture of Oxford and women’s contributions to it.

There is no need to book. Please note that there is no step-free access to the Upper Library.