Strolling Players of Empire: Theater and Performances of Power in the British Imperial Provinces, 1656–1833

511 Pages·2023·21.567 MB·English

by  Kathleen Wilson

Strolling Players of Empire
Why did Britons get up a play wherever they went? Kathleen Wilson
revealshowtheperformanceofEnglishtheaterandatheatricalizedway
ofviewingtheworldshapedthegeopoliticsandcultureofempireinthe
longeighteenthcentury.RangingacrosstheAtlantic,IndianandPacific
Oceans to encompass Kingston, Calcutta, Fort Marlborough,
St. Helena and Port Jackson as well as London and provincial towns,
sheshowshowBritonsonthemovetransformedperipheriesintohistor-
ical stages where alternative collectivities were enacted, imagined and
lived.Menandwomenofvariousethnicities,classesandlegalstatuses
producedandperformedEnglishtheaterintheworld,helpingtocon-
solidate a national and imperial culture. The theater of empire also
enablednon-BritishpeopletoadaptorinterpretEnglishculturaltradi-
tions through their own performances, as Englishness also became
aproductionofnon-Englishpeoplesacrosstheglobe.
KathleenWilsonisDistinguishedProfessorofHistoryatStonyBrook
University.Herprizewinningscholarshipfocusesonquestionsofiden-
tity,empireandcultureinthelongeighteenthcentury.Previousbooks
include The Sense of the People: Politics, Culture and Imperialism in
England, 1715–1785 (1995), The Island Race: Englishness, Empire and
Gender in the Eighteenth Century (2003) and A New Imperial History:
Culture, Identity and Modernity in Britain and the Empire, 1660–1840
(2004).AformerGuggenheimandNEHFellowandpastpresidentof
theAmericanSocietyofEighteenth-CenturyStudies,Wilsonliveswith
herhumanandnonhumanrelationsinManhattanandLongIsland.
CriticalPerspectivesonEmpire
Editors
ProfessorCatherineHall
UniversityCollegeLondon
ProfessorMrinaliniSinha
UniversityofMichigan
ProfessorKathleenWilson
StateUniversityofNewYork,StonyBrook
Critical Perspectives on Empire is a major series of ambitious, cross-disciplinary
worksintheemergingfieldofcriticalimperialstudies.Booksintheseriesexplore
the connections, exchanges and mediations at the heart of national and global
histories,the contributionsof localas wellasmetropolitan knowledge,and the
flowsofpeople,ideasandidentitiesfacilitatedbycolonialcontact.Tothatend,
the series not only offers a space for outstanding scholars working at the
intersectionofseveraldisciplinestobringtowiderattentiontheimpactoftheir
work; it also takes a leading role in reconfiguring contemporary historical and
criticalknowledge,ofthepastandofourselves.
Afulllistoftitlespublishedintheseriescanbefoundat:
www.cambridge.org/cpempire
Strolling Players of Empire
Theater and Performances of Power in the British
Imperial Provinces, 1656–1833
Kathleen Wilson
StateUniversityofNewYork,StonyBrook
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108479783
DOI:10.1017/9781108786317
©KathleenWilson2022
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2022
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJBooksLimited,PadstowCornwall
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Wilson,Kathleen,author.
Title: Strolling players of empire : theater and performances of power in the
Britishimperialprovinces,1656/KathleenWilson.
Description:Cambridge;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,2022.|
Series:Criticalperspectivesonempire|Includesbibliographicalreferencesand
index.
Identifiers:LCCN2022011794(print)|LCCN2022011795(ebook)|
ISBN9781108479783(hardback)|ISBN9781108786317(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Travelingtheater–Politicalaspects–GreatBritain–History–18th
century.|Theaterandsociety–GreatBritain–History–18thcentury.|English
drama–18thcentury–Historyandcriticism.|Nationalcharacteristics,British,in
literature. | Hegemony – Great Britain. | Cultural relations. | Great Britain –
Colonies–History–18thcentury.|GreatBritain–Civilization–18thcentury.
Classification:LCCPN2599.5.T73W552022(print)|LCCPN2599.5.T73
(ebook)|DDC306.4/8480941–dc23/eng/20220708
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2022011794
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2022011795
ISBN978-1-108-47978-3Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
To Nick and Hannah, as always
Torobbery,slaughter,andplundertheygivethelyingnameofempire;
theymakeasolitudeandcallitpeace.
ChiefCalgacus,inTacitus,TheAgricola(AD98)
Ofallthemeansformakingtheimpressionofidealpresence,theatrical
presenceisthemostpowerful.Thatwordsindependentofactionhave
thesamepowertoalesserdegree,everyoneofsensibilitymusthavefelt.
HenryHome,LordKames,TheElementsofCriticism(1762)
[Slavery is] an injustice that will not cancel out ... [it] is a Collective
GhostofmorethanhouseholdScale,–theWrongsCommittedDaily
against the Slaves, petty and grave ones alike, going unrecorded,
charm’d invisible to history, invisible yet possessing Mass, and
Velocity,ablenotonlytoRattleChainsbuttobreakthemaswell.
ThomasPynchon,Mason&Dixon(1997)
Contents
ListofFigures pageix
ListofMaps xi
Acknowledgments xii
ListofAbbreviations xv
Prologue:StrollerswithoutBorders 1
Introduction:Britain’sTheatricalEmpire 4
PartI Playing 45
1 PeripheralizingtheSpheres:TheatricalAssemblages
oftheImperialProvinces 47
2 Rowe’sFairPenitentAsGlobalHistory:ColonialFamily
StrategiesandtheImperativesofNation 97
3 TheLureoftheOther:Jews,NabobsandEnslaved
AfricansinaTranscolonialImaginary 156
PartII TheatersofEmpire 199
4 PerformancesofFreedom:JamaicanMaroonsinImperial
Transit 201
5 BlackfaceEmpire:or,theSlaveryMeridian 251
6 Zanga’sColony:RevengeinSydney,1796–1810 313
PartIII EastIndiaCompanyPeripheriesandtheHistory
ofModernity 367
7 PerformingTheWonderinSumatra:Theatrical
EthnographyinaNewWorldHistory 369
vii
viii Contents
8 NapoleonicGothic:St.HelenaAsCenteroftheBritish
World 421
Appendix1 CalendarofPlaysinCalcutta,1770–1792 472
Appendix2 CalendarofPlays,St.HelenaAmateurTheatre,
1816–1823 474
Index 476
Theplatesectioncanbefoundbetweenpp368and369
Figures
I.1 StrollingplayerdrummingupcustomandplayingOthello,
1793 page10
I.2 ThomasRowlandson,AnAudienceWatchingaPlayat
DruryLane,c.1785 14
1.1 ThomasRowlandson,ComedySpectators,TragedySpectators
(London,1789) 64
1.2 JamesHakewill,HarbourStreet,Kingston,1825 72
1.3 P.W.DuSimitière,KingstonafterTacky[1760–1] 74
1.4 ThomasDaniells,OldFort,TheatreandBlackHoleMonument,
1784 80
1.5 AGrandJamaicaBall!OrtheCreoleanHopalaMuftee,As
ExhibitedinSpanishTown,1802 91
2.1 Mrs.SiddonsasCalista,c.1780 101
2.2 Koo,Koo,orActorBoy,1837 123
2.3 OldTank(Laldighi)Calcutta,1786 129
2.4 EdwardDayesandFrancisJukesafterThomasWatling,
AViewofSydneyCove,1804 139
2.5 Eorawomen,childrenandmenfishing,c.1792 150
3.1 SarahHarloweastheduenna(2.2.19),1823 165
3.2 Milkwoman,Kingston,Jamaica,1837 171
3.3 JohannZoffany,SirElijahandLadyImpeyandFamily,1783 181
3.4 JamesGillray,ASaleofEnglishBeautiesintheEastIndies,1786 183
3.5 JohannZoffany,RobertBaddeleyasMosesinTheSchoolfor
Scandal,c.1781 187
4.1 WilliamBerryman,Maroon:BuckraReadingTheirPass,1808 218
4.2 Jaw-BoneorHouseJohn-Canoe,1837 232
4.3 AugustusEarle,BungareeandGooseberry,1826 240
4.4 WoodasThreeFingeredJack,c.1850,etchingbyE.Skelt 243
5.1 JohnRichinTheNecromancer,1753 258
5.2 Mr.DibdinintheCharacterofMUNGOintheCelebratedOpera
ofthePADLOCK[1762] 265
5.3 “Cookey,yougo,”HighLifebelowStairs,1774 267
ix