Polish Theatre Revisited: Theatre Fans in the Nineteenth Century (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781609389291)

ASTR Barnard Hewitt Award, Finalist

Polish Theatre Revisited explores nineteenth-century Polish theatre through the lens of theatre audiences. Agata Luksza places special emphasis on the most engaged spectators, known as "theatremaniacs"--from what they wore, to what they bought, to what they ate. Her source material is elusive ephemera from fans' lives, such as notes scribbled on a weekly list of shows in the Warsaw theatres, collections of theatre postcards, and recipes for sweets named after famous actors.

The fannish behavior of theatremaniacs was usually deemed excessive or in poor taste by people in positions of power, as it clashed with the ongoing embourgeoisement of the theatre and the disciplining of audiences. Nevertheless, the theatre was one of the key areas where early fan cultures emerged, and theatremaniacs indulged in diverse fan practices in opposition to the forces reforming the theatre and its spectatorship.


Author: Agata Luksza
ISBN-10: 1609389298
ISBN-13: 9781609389291
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Language: English
Published: 01/19/2024
Pages: 367
Format: Paperback