Playbill For London’s Theatre Royal, 1828

This promotional poster announces upcoming performances at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Covent Garden

1VENUE

If you know the name of a place where your ancestor performed, you can look to see if any venue records survive.

2SOCIAL HISTORY

Theatrical memorabilia can offer fascinating insights into the age. For example, this playbill includes a note that the Dress Circle will no longer be lit by gas. Gas lighting came to the London stage in 1817, but some audiences were worried about gas escaping as well as the increased heat.

3DATE OF PERFORMANCE

Use this to search newspaper databases for reviews. Depending on the publication, reviews might be published daily, weekly or monthly.

4PRODUCTION

What was your ancestor performing? Sometimes the name of a popular song, play or act is given.

5CREDITS

The more famous actors are listed at the top. A playbill may also reveal that your ancestor had a partner, or formed part of a troupe, providing more names to research to find out about their theatrical career. It isn’t just humans who have forged careers as performers, either. In Georgian Britain audiences flocked to see Toby the ‘learned pig’, while an elephant called Jumbo was a star in the Victorian era.