Fire on Stage

Abstract

The nineteenth century theatre was fire-prone, to say the least. Across the century there were more than 1,100 major conflagrations in the world’s theatres, and countless smaller fires. In Great Britain almost every theatre seems to have burned down at some point. And yet, despite, or perhaps in part because of, this appalling record, fires were a staple feature of stage spectacle. Some plays placed them at the very centre of the entertainment, and as the century went on stage fires became more and more elaborate. Actual or simulated conflagrations were conjured up using a diverse array of technologies, some of them very simple, some depending on the most recent scientific discoveries. Here, I give a short tour of these technologies and their use in the plays of the period, and suggest some of the pleasures that they offered. While onstage flames could draw people in, offering an experience of immersive suspense, for instance, they also interrupted the dramatic flow, reminding audiences that they were seeing a performance, getting something for their money. To this extent, we are reminded that nineteenth-century drama provided something of a mixed and spectacular ‘theatre of attractions’, closer at times to the circus than to the novel.