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Photographing Titus Andronicus: Textual Fidelity, Spectacle, and the Performance Tradition

Sally Barnden Orcid Logo

Theatre Journal, Volume: 69, Issue: 4, Pages: 555 - 571

Swansea University Author: Sally Barnden Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1353/tj.2017.0070

Abstract

This essay considers how theatre photographs have deployed celebrity images to repackage Shakespeare for the tastes and values of particular audiences. It focuses on two images associated with productions of Titus Andronicus over a century apart: Ira Aldridge as Aaron in circa 1850, and Vivien Leigh...

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Published in: Theatre Journal
ISSN: 1086-332X
Published: Project MUSE 2017
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64323
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spelling v2 64323 2023-09-02 Photographing Titus Andronicus: Textual Fidelity, Spectacle, and the Performance Tradition a657184d4afcb1c588202ebc2428d803 0000-0002-6186-5572 Sally Barnden Sally Barnden true false 2023-09-02 AELC This essay considers how theatre photographs have deployed celebrity images to repackage Shakespeare for the tastes and values of particular audiences. It focuses on two images associated with productions of Titus Andronicus over a century apart: Ira Aldridge as Aaron in circa 1850, and Vivien Leigh as Lavinia in 1955. The former, dating from an early period in the history of theatrical photography, reveals the shifting politics of Victorian theatre and its relationship to printed versions of Shakespeare’s plays. The photograph of Leigh was taken at a time when theatrical photography was undergoing a move from posed, polished images to a rougher, more journalistic style; its statuesque portrayal of a famously shocking scene demonstrates a careful negotiation of Shakespearean cultural capital. Analyzing the embodied histories of these archival images—their conditions of production, the priorities of those who participated in making them, the circumstances in which they were reproduced and displayed—the essay argues that they use the celebrity personas of their respective subjects to advertise and represent the play. In particular, the photographs divert attention from the uncomfortable elements of Titus Andronicus and instead represent the performances as reifications of a classical, decorous, traditional Shakespeare. Journal Article Theatre Journal 69 4 555 571 Project MUSE 1086-332X 1 1 2017 2017-01-01 10.1353/tj.2017.0070 http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/tj.2017.0070 COLLEGE NANME English Literature COLLEGE CODE AELC Swansea University 2023-10-30T08:36:02.4360770 2023-09-02T12:18:32.0596307 Sally Barnden 0000-0002-6186-5572 1
title Photographing Titus Andronicus: Textual Fidelity, Spectacle, and the Performance Tradition
spellingShingle Photographing Titus Andronicus: Textual Fidelity, Spectacle, and the Performance Tradition
Sally Barnden
title_short Photographing Titus Andronicus: Textual Fidelity, Spectacle, and the Performance Tradition
title_full Photographing Titus Andronicus: Textual Fidelity, Spectacle, and the Performance Tradition
title_fullStr Photographing Titus Andronicus: Textual Fidelity, Spectacle, and the Performance Tradition
title_full_unstemmed Photographing Titus Andronicus: Textual Fidelity, Spectacle, and the Performance Tradition
title_sort Photographing Titus Andronicus: Textual Fidelity, Spectacle, and the Performance Tradition
author_id_str_mv a657184d4afcb1c588202ebc2428d803
author_id_fullname_str_mv a657184d4afcb1c588202ebc2428d803_***_Sally Barnden
author Sally Barnden
author2 Sally Barnden
format Journal article
container_title Theatre Journal
container_volume 69
container_issue 4
container_start_page 555
publishDate 2017
institution Swansea University
issn 1086-332X
doi_str_mv 10.1353/tj.2017.0070
publisher Project MUSE
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/tj.2017.0070
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description This essay considers how theatre photographs have deployed celebrity images to repackage Shakespeare for the tastes and values of particular audiences. It focuses on two images associated with productions of Titus Andronicus over a century apart: Ira Aldridge as Aaron in circa 1850, and Vivien Leigh as Lavinia in 1955. The former, dating from an early period in the history of theatrical photography, reveals the shifting politics of Victorian theatre and its relationship to printed versions of Shakespeare’s plays. The photograph of Leigh was taken at a time when theatrical photography was undergoing a move from posed, polished images to a rougher, more journalistic style; its statuesque portrayal of a famously shocking scene demonstrates a careful negotiation of Shakespearean cultural capital. Analyzing the embodied histories of these archival images—their conditions of production, the priorities of those who participated in making them, the circumstances in which they were reproduced and displayed—the essay argues that they use the celebrity personas of their respective subjects to advertise and represent the play. In particular, the photographs divert attention from the uncomfortable elements of Titus Andronicus and instead represent the performances as reifications of a classical, decorous, traditional Shakespeare.
published_date 2017-01-01T08:36:02Z
_version_ 1781168825595592704
score 11.035634

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