Children and Theatre in Victorian Britain

"The cult of the child performer was a significant emergence of the Victorian age. This is the first major study of children in Victorian theatre. It exposes the contradictions between Victorian conception of childhood and fashions in the theatrical taste. Forgotten scripts are rediscovered, while new light is shed on familiar texts such as Alice in Wonderland and the Pirates of Penzance. At the centre are the child actors, the social, political and artistic context of their working lives, and their developing professionalism."--Jacket.