The Sign of the Cross - Playbill, 1895
Title
The Sign of the Cross - Playbill, 1895
Date
11 November 1895
Description
Late Victorian playbill for The Sign of the Cross performed by Wilson Barrett and 'his celebrated company'
What's the story?
Wilson Barrett was another in a long-line of Victorian touring actor/managers. However, whilst contemporaries like F.R. Benson specialised in Shakespeare, Wilson focused on melodrama, with The Sign on the Cross being his most successful play.
A religious drama, set in the time of Rome during Nero’s reign, The Sign on the Cross was first produced in Missouri in the United States in March 1895.
It opened in Leeds in August 1895 and then toured. Therefore, these Theatre Royal shows would have been amongst its earliest performances.
According to reports, at theatres where this play was performed, there would be crowds of non-traditional theatre-goers seeing the show, along with several zealous clergymen.
At the turn of the century Wilson tried to emulate the success of The Sign of the Cross with other shows of similar religious fervour, but with little success.
This Theatre Royal playbill was donated to the Theatre Royal archive by The Nottingham Mechanics on North Sherwood Street in Nottingham. They had been kept in storage in their building for many years and it was only with the launch of the Theatre Royal digital archive in October 2018, that they finally came to light. The Theatre Royal is sincerely grateful to the Nottingham Mechanics for enabling us to bring these playbills to the wider public.
Since 1837 The Nottingham Mechanics Institute has been serving the city of Nottingham as a centre of cultural, educational and social activity.
In its present home on North Sherwood Street groups such as Nottingham Poetry Society, The Dickens Fellowship, Nottingham Shakespeare Society, The Embroiderers’ Club and others meet regularly to enjoy the building’s facilities www.nottinghammechanics.com
A religious drama, set in the time of Rome during Nero’s reign, The Sign on the Cross was first produced in Missouri in the United States in March 1895.
It opened in Leeds in August 1895 and then toured. Therefore, these Theatre Royal shows would have been amongst its earliest performances.
According to reports, at theatres where this play was performed, there would be crowds of non-traditional theatre-goers seeing the show, along with several zealous clergymen.
At the turn of the century Wilson tried to emulate the success of The Sign of the Cross with other shows of similar religious fervour, but with little success.
This Theatre Royal playbill was donated to the Theatre Royal archive by The Nottingham Mechanics on North Sherwood Street in Nottingham. They had been kept in storage in their building for many years and it was only with the launch of the Theatre Royal digital archive in October 2018, that they finally came to light. The Theatre Royal is sincerely grateful to the Nottingham Mechanics for enabling us to bring these playbills to the wider public.
Since 1837 The Nottingham Mechanics Institute has been serving the city of Nottingham as a centre of cultural, educational and social activity.
In its present home on North Sherwood Street groups such as Nottingham Poetry Society, The Dickens Fellowship, Nottingham Shakespeare Society, The Embroiderers’ Club and others meet regularly to enjoy the building’s facilities www.nottinghammechanics.com
Type
Playbill
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researcher: David Longford
Photographer: Ian Webster
Photographer: Ian Webster
