Byron at the Theatre

Byron at the Theatre is a collection of essays by a wide spectrum of European scholars, dealing with Byron's dramas in a variety of ways. It starts with a long and detailed introduction on Byron and Drury Lane, incorporating much recent research done on the riotous and squalid conditions of the theatre in Regency London conditions which go far towards explaining Byron's distaste for the idea of theatrical success.There follows a chapter about the influence on Byron of Vittorio Alfieri, a vital subject which has not been written about thoroughly for over a century, and which goes far to explain what motivated Byron's experiments in classical drama.The main body of the essays discuss Byron's plays from thematic perspectives, and examine Byron himself as a figure in the dramas of Goethe and Stoppard. There is a chapter on Rudolph Nureyev's little-known Manfred ballet, and another on Byron himself as a dramatic performer.Byron at the Theatre is a vital book for anyone interested in this much-discussed but little-understood aspect of Byron's life and work.