Charles Fleetwood, the 1744 Drury Lane Riots, and pricing practices in eighteenth-century British theatre

Leo Shipp

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: In November 1744, a series of riots broke out at Drury Lane theatre, forcing its proprietor, Charles Fleetwood, to sell his majority share of the theatrical patent. Theatre scholarship has long held that the riots were caused by Fleetwood's attempt to raise admission prices for old pantomimes, yet also, somewhat contradictorily, has maintained that admission prices definitively increased at London's patent theatres in the period around 1740. This article shows both points to be mistaken: prices did not rise in the period, and Fleetwood was forced out due to a range of grievances that had developed over the preceding decade. By revealing how pricing practices, Fleetwood's tenure, and the riots developed, this article provides new insights on a crucial period in London's theatre history (the 1730s–40s) and on the wider social and economic dynamics of Georgian theatregoing.

Keywords: audience; Charles Fleetwood; commerce; Drury Lane; pantomime; prices; print culture; proprietor; riot; theatre (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2024-12-31
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Published in Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 31, December, 2024, 47(4), pp. 405-424. ISSN: 1754-0194

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