The life of this actor, manager, play­wright, and eighteenth-century gentle­man is here refracted through the volu­rninous correspondence and analyses of roles, plays, and performances in this, no doubt final, biography of David Garrick. As the direct result of modern scholar­ship accessible only since the 1960s, it is now possible to appraise fully the life of this remarkable person who was born in Lichfield 19February 1717, a child­hood friend of Samuel Johnson, who be­came the greatest English theatrical lu­minary who ever lived, and who when he died 20 January 1779was mourned by the nation and eulogized by Dr. Johnson as one whose death "eclipsed the gaiety of nations." For twenty-nine years (1747-1776) Garrick managed Drury Lane theatre, caring passionately for its well-being. His own acting set the pace for the per­formances, his discipline carried it on, and his theatrical innovations attracted the audiences on which the lives, hopes, and families of some 140actors, actress­es, singers, dancers, and others depend­ed. In addition, he wrote, adapted, or altered some 49 plays and wrote nearly 100 prologues. What emerges from this big, new critical biography is a fully drawn por­trait of an eighteenth-century gentleman, with a wide range of acquaintances, elegant socially, morally, and personal­ly, and an engaging conversationalist with and respecter of women of mark and with his closest friends. He was also, as the evidence now shows, the solid link with his own age and the great dramatic artists of the past, from the Restoration playwrights to Massinger, Jonson, Shakespeare, and early English dram­atists.

Explores how David Garrick - actor, newspaper proprietor and part-owner of Drury Lane Theatre - mediated his own celebrity.

Book collecting, bibliomania and the eighteenth-century -- Building a library -- Garrick, book culture and The Club -- Collecting Shakespeare and other English dramatists -- Book-buying in France and Italy -- Dispersal -- Appendix A. Locations of Garrick's books -- Appendix B. Books to which Garrick subscribed -- Appendix C. Books addressed/dedicated to Garrick -- Appendix D. Lots purchased by Thomas Thorpe at the 1823 sale -- Appendix E. Garrick books formerly belonging to George Frederick Beltz -- Appendix F. Carrington Garrick's books

The Birth of Modern Theatre: Rivalry, Riots, and Romance in the Age of Garrick is a vivid description of the eighteenth-century London theatre scene—a time when the theatre took on many of the features of our modern stage. A natural and psychologically based acting style replaced the declamatory style of an earlier age. The theatres were mainly supported by paying audiences, no longer by royal or noble patrons. The press determined the success or failure of a play or a performance. Actors were no longer shunned by polite society, some becoming celebrities in the modern sense. The dominant figure for thirty years was David Garrick, actor, theatre manager and playwright, who, off the stage, charmed London with his energy, playfulness, and social graces. No less important in defining eighteenth-century theatre were its audiences, who considered themselves full-scale participants in theatrical performances; if they did not care for a play, an actor, or ticket prices, they would loudly make their wishes known, sometimes starting a riot. This book recounts the lives—and occasionally the scandals—of the actors and theatre managers and weaves them into the larger story of the theatre in this exuberant age, setting the London stage and its leading personalities against the background of the important social, cultural, and economic changes that shaped eighteenth-century Britain. The Birth of Modern Theatre brings all of this together to describe a moment in history that sowed the seeds of today’s stage.

This text examines the changes made by eighteenth-century actor-manager David Garrick to Shakespeare's plays.