Dibdin, Kelly, and the Spectacle of Self

Abstract

Summarizes Michael Kelly’s Reminiscences (1826) and Thomas Dibdin’s Reminiscences (1827). Both describe imaginatively the realities of running a theater and putting up productions, and both detail the history and spectacle of Georgian and Regency London Theatre. Recounts the authors’ descriptions of traveling and performing in Europe, witnessing events of the French Revolution, entering the business of music publishing, going through bankruptcy and disgrace, and engaging the foibles of George III and his family. Claims these texts illustrate the construction, presentation, and valuation of art, the making of theatrical culture in the early nineteenth century.