Colonial Theatre, A: The Royal Victoria (6 Parts)

Synopsis

6: Attempts to simulate a segment of a performance as it might have apeared around the time of the theatre’s opening. Shows part of the last scene of Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, which was the play first performed at the theatre’s opening in 1838. Two professional actors as Othello and Desdemona explore body movements to express various emotions, and use these to recreate an early 19th-century version of Desdemona’s death sceme. The performance is superimposed on the model of the stage of the theatre to provide a sense of realism. Also describes the workload of actors of the day and the system of ‘benefit’ performances given to actors to augment their meagre income.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. VHS. col. 11, 12, 12, 9, 13, 24 min.

Year of production

1991

Availability

Special loan to Consortium members only

Documentation

Accompanying study guide and replica poster.

Uses

Undergraduate students of architecture, performance studies and English.

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Australia; theatre history; theatres

Sections

Title

Research

Synopsis

1: Background to both the theatre in the young colony of New South Wales (and in the first settled town of Sydney), and the type of research that had to be relied on in creating the simulation of the theatre-going experience of the late 1830s through the

Title

Architecture

Synopsis

2: Describes the architecture of the theatre, which applies generally to many theatres from as early as 1818 to the 1860s. The design allows viewers to see the kind of layout and ocnditions of theatre-going, not only in Sydney but also in any English prov

Title

Scene changing

Synopsis

3 (17 min): Provides, in the movement of the scenic elements on the stage, the impression of scene changes which audiences from the late 17th century through to the last quarter of the 19th century would have experienced. It described the long-enduring sy

Title

Lighting

Synopsis

4: The Royal Victoria used oil lighting when it opened in 1938, but began to convert to gas lighting only a few years later. It was destroyed just before electricity was being experimentally used to light theatres in Australia in the early 1880s.

Title

Society

Synopsis

5: Shows gthe types of people who were patrons of the different distinct accommodation in the auditorium: the pit, the dress boxes, the family circle, the gallery and its side slips. Also describes some of the behaviours of the actors of the day, so that

Title

Performance

Synopsis

6: Attempts to simulate a segment of a performance as it might have apeared around the time of the theatre's opening. Shows part of the last scene of Shakespeare's 'Othello', which was the play first performed at the theatre's opening in 1838. Two profess

Production Company

Name

University of Sydney Audiovisual Services

Distributor

Name

Consortium for Drama & Media in Higher Education

Web

http://www.bufvc.ac.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7393 1500

Fax

020 7393 1555

Address

c/o British Universities Film & Video Council
77 Wells Street
London W1T 3QJ

Name

University of Sydney, Department of Central Services

Phone

+612 9351 2651

Fax

+612 9351 2560

Address

Baxters Lodge PO2
Sydney
NSW 2006
Australia

Notes

91-92 cat rec’d 11/93. Letter rec’d saying the Television Service has ceased production but the programmes continue to be distributed