Acting American in the Age of Abolition: Transatlantic Black American Celebrity and the Rise of Yankee Theatre, 1787--1827

This dissertation complicates the accepted theory that the vogue for Yankee Theatre in the nineteenth-century developed primarily in response to negative English stereotypes and stage representations of the Yankee character. I argue that the swift rise of the English abolitionist movement in conjunction with the successful career of the black American actor Ira Aldridge in England were essential catalysts to the rise of Yankee Theatre, which began a new era in American professional theatre that for the first time promoted American-born actors in American-written plays. Aldridge's influence on nineteenth-century American theatre history has been unexplored, as he never returned to the United States after 1825, however I argue his career in England was a key factor in these radical changes in American theatre in the 1820s-30s.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Theatre

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Roark, Kathleena Lucille

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kim Lee, Esther

• Black Studies

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3290361

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/86498