Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Drama and Music in New South Wales
That the stage is a great teacher may be assumed from the fact that the collective conceptions of men whose lives are given to the study of all phases of human passion, as indicated 'by writers, and to their illustration, are constantly and forcibly being placed before a large portion of the public, who would otherwise have little chance of realising them. Declamation and action appeal at once to the ear, the eye, and the understanding, evoke thought, and call up critical emotions, be they learned or crude. The man who can neither read nor write may comprehend the action of a play he witnesses, and often his rough criticism displays shrewdness of observation, and in some instances a perception of merits or faults that escape even the educated.
With such a hold on the mind of the British people, it is not sur prising that where British communities are established, even those who, as Burke says, are still, as it were but in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood, the representation of the drama is among the first of their institutions for amusement. Such was the case as regards Australia, -for within forty-five years of the time when the Colony of New South Wales was founded, a theatre, in all respects resembling the small theatres of London, was erected, and the stage thereof occupied by a fair stock company.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.