Theater, Law and legislation, Administrative Law, Legal History, Censorship, Law, Ireland, History 

Irish Legal History Society 

"Drama, opera, ballet, circuses, concerts and puppet-shows: down the years, all these species of live entertainment faced innumerable difficulties in Ireland. The challenges that are the focus in this unusual study are those that touched on matters of law. The State has always been circumspect about the power of theatres and the stage. From the Irish Mastership of the Revels, first conferred in 1638 by Thomas Wentworth, and the regime of theatre patents inaugurated in 1786, to censorship both earlier and later, Professor Osborough reviews the law as it related to theatres in Ireland over four centuries. Assorted venues encountered episodes of censorship and of riot. Safety of buildings, performers' contracts, dramatic authors' performing rights, liquor licensing all merit attention too, as, indeed, necessarily must the issue of the lawfulness of any 'theatrical' activity itself. This engaging study draws on the legislation and law reports of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Britain and the United Kingdom. Spectres of the Smock Alley Theatre, the Theatre Royal and the Queens in Dublin, the Vaults in Belfast and Limerick's Assembly House, among other well remembered names, make their appearance, as do the going concerns that continue to entertain in cities and towns across Ireland."--publisher's website. 

Content:
1. The Irish mastership of the revels, 1638-1830 -- 2. Regulation in Britain, 1737-1843 -- 3.Regulating the Dublin stage : the abortive plan of 1779 -- 4. The Bill of 1785 : the opposition outflanked -- 5. The passing of the Dublin Stage Regulation Act, 1786 -- 6. Performances within the reach of control -- 7. Theatre in the provinces -- 8. Dublin theatre patents : the first hundred years and more -- 9. Dublin theatre patents : countdown to abolition -- 10. Health and safety -- 11. Refreshments for patrons -- 12. Performers and managers -- 13. Disruption and riot -- 14. Censorship -- 15. The dramatic author's performing right. 

Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-294) and indexes.
Item donated by Graham Price.
Categorized by organization (Irish Legal History Society (ILHS)), then author/editor, then year.