The notion of censorship of the media and arts, even in democratic countries, can still be an extremely polarising issue and one that has existed since the very first political societies. One EU-funded project has recently examined the history of censorship of the theatre in Britain during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, highlighting valuable insights into the evolution of a political tool of coercion that is still prevalent in today’s world.
The EU-funded THEATRE CENSORSHIP project sought to bring together two archives, one in the US and one in the UK, to provide a chronological survey of theatre censorship between two key pieces of legislation: The Stage Licensing Act 1737 and the Theatres Act 1843.
Further details: Not fit for representation? Exploring theatre censorship in Early Modern Britain