Jane Austen Society of North America - NY Metropolitan Region Presents AN EVENING WITH NORMAN S. POSER

Please join the Jane Austen Society of North America - NY Metropolitan Region Presents AN EVENING WITH NORMAN S. POSER"

Evening will include an extraordinary talk by Mr. Poser about his new book, followed by a Q&A session and book signing.

DATE:

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

TIME:

6:30 PM - 8 PM

PLACE:

Shakespeare & Co.
939 Lexington Ave, New York, New York 10065
Map

COST:

FREE *

About the book:

THE BIRTH OF MODERN THEATRE: RIVALRY, RIOTS, AND ROMANCE IN THE AGE OF GARRICK by Norman S. Poser

A vivid description of the 18th-Century London theatre scene-a time when the theatre took on many of the features of our Modern Stage. A natural and psychologically based acting style replaced the declamatory style of an earlier age. The theatres were mainly supported by paying audiences, no longer by royal or noble patrons. The press determined the success or failure of a play or a performance. Actors were no longer shunned by polite society, some becoming celebrities in the modern sense.

The dominant figure for thirty years was David Garrick, actor, theatre manager and playwright, who, off the stage, charmed London with his energy, playfulness, and social graces. No less important in defining 18th-Century Theatre were its audiences, who considered themselves full-scale participants in theatrical performances; if they did not care for a play, an actor, or ticket prices, they would loudly make their wishes known, sometimes starting a riot.

This book recounts the lives-and occasionally the scandals-of the actors and theatre managers and weaves them into the larger story of the theatre in this exuberant age, setting the London stage and its leading personalities against the background of the important social, cultural, and economic changes that shaped eighteenth-century Britain.

Among the major personalities discussed:

• David Garrick, the charismatic actor, theater manager, and playwright,
• Peg Woffington, the bewitching and promiscuous actress,
• Charles Macklin, the surly, anti-social, occasionally violent but brilliant actor,
• Kitty Clive, the outspoken comedian,
• Samuel Foote, the witty satirist; and several others.

Delving into their friendships, rivalries, and relationships (it does get steamy!) Poser reveals scandalous stories set against the backdrop of a theater scene that was beginning to resemble today's show business world.

NORMAN S. POSER is professor emeritus at Brooklyn Law School and is a widely respected expert in international and domestic securities regulation. His works include Lord Mansfield: Justice in the Age of Reason (2013), the only modern biography of the great 18th-Century British judge, and Escape: A Jewish Scandinavian Family in the Second World War. His other works include Broker-Dealer Law and Regulation, and International Securities Regulation: London's "Big Bang" and the European Securities Markets, as well as numerous law review articles in these fields. He is currently working on another project involving the American Revolution.

Born in London, Poser lives in New York City, is a member of the American Law Institute and serves on the Advisory Board of Standard & Poor's "The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation". He retired from teaching in 2007.

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