Fledgeling Ipswich Theatre shows a passion for Shakespeare

The opening of a theatre royal in a town was a big event – it gave the performances legitimacy and Shakespeare was often the go-to playwright of choice because he was seen to epitomise English theatre culture.

Here the company from the nearby Theatre Royal Norwich are coming to Ipswich with their performance, this would have been a big event for local society.

This playbill, from the British Library archives, shows the lead actress Mrs Stretton elsewhere on the theatre circuit – she obviously toured with the Theatre Royal Norwich company and her name crops up in the provinces although it is not certain she ever made it to London.

It is an example of how a small venue back in the late 18th century was trying to get on its feet in Ipswich – part of the quest perhaps locally to establish a more permanent theatre, as seen in Norwich.

Hannah Manktelow, University of Nottingham doctoral student, working with the British Library, writes:

Hannah Manktelow

Theatre productions in the 18th and 19th centuries were highly regulated by government.

Theatre productions in the 18th and 19th centuries were highly regulated by government.

The regulation began in 1737 with the Licensing Act was brought in by the then Prime Minister Robert Walpole, because his government had been subject to numerous satires on the London stage.

As a result the only way a venue could officially stage a play was if it had a patent. Given that only two patents had been issued – to Covent Garden and Drury Lane theatres in London – technically any productions outside these venues were illegal.

However, the groups of players who travelled the country to perform in the provinces often avoid prosecution by local magistrates who were often fans of the theatre themselves.

Then in the later 18th century, provincial theatres were also starting to be awarded ‘patents’ themselves, allowing them to take the name of Theatres Royal. (Nearby Norwich was among the first to gain its Theatre Royal status in 1768)

And in 1788, restrictions were relaxed even more. So, just two years after this performance at Tacket street Theatre smaller towns such which were not likely to gain a Theatre Royal, were able to acquire an official licence from magistrates.

Such a licence could be issued for up to sixty days at a time, provided the location was not within twenty miles of London, eight miles of a patent or licensed theatre, fourteen miles from Oxford and Cambridge or ten miles from a Royal residence.