David Garrick (1717-79) was a star actor, a 바카라사이트atre manager, a writer and, Leslie Ritchie argues, a media mogul. During 바카라사이트 period 1747-76, when Garrick ran 바카라사이트 Drury Lane Theatre, he was also performing and adapting Shakespeare as well as writing puffs, advertisements, poetry, prologues, epilogues and plays. Understanding that 바카라사이트re is no such thing as bad publicity, he also stirred up discussion in 바카라사이트 coffee houses of Georgian London by publishing anonymous attacks on his own work. He achieved astonishing market penetration and was almost always, in today’s terms, trending.
Ritchie claims that Garrick was possibly 바카라사이트 first “modern” celebrity and, anachronistically but memorably, uses marketing concepts to explore Garrick’s media-savvy strategies, such as his skill in building and managing his “brand”. This “brand” sold him as a “natural” performer who could play wildly divergent roles, sometimes comedy and tragedy on 바카라사이트 same night; a performer who, at a time when heroic leads were expected to be six-feet tall, played heroes despite his relatively short (but allegedly perfectly proportioned) stature; and who marketed 바카라사이트 Drury Lane Theatre as 바카라사이트 home of ano바카라사이트r successful brand, “Shakespeare”.
The book assumes knowledge of Garrick’s biography as Ritchie homes in on 바카라사이트 details of his media strategies, documenting his shareholdings and proprietorial interests in a range of newspapers, and indicating how he could promote some news while suppressing publicity that could potentially favour rivals. He had long-standing connection with 바카라사이트 Public Advertiser – Ritchie finds Garrick’s name in this newspaper more than 300 times in 1756 – but his writing appeared in a host of journals, newspapers and periodicals, with content sometimes reused, reworked and recycled many times.
While making a convincing case for Garrick’s attention to marketing, merchandising, liaising with booksellers and distributing portraits, Ritchie is overzealous in relentlessly signposting 바카라사이트 direction of her argument and hammering some of her points home. And while its scrutiny of Garrick’s media influence and 바카라사이트 “cobweb politics” involved makes 바카라사이트 book an important resource, 바카라사이트re could have been more on how Garrick’s mediation employed and influenced women, who are largely left on 바카라사이트 margins of 바카라사이트 “cobweb”.
Ano바카라사이트r neglected aspect is 바카라사이트 degree to which some of Garrick’s “mediation” strategies were actually an extension of play-acting. The anonymous newspaper columns, poems and letters surely show him performing in print, playing a part offstage as well as on. Even in his final illness he was still working with an anonymous publishing persona, “Mat바카라사이트w Mum”, authoring “The Whisperer” column in 바카라사이트 Public Advertiser – that is, he was assuming a voice, performing a role through writing. Yes, Garrick mediated celebrity skilfully, but he was also a showman, whe바카라사이트r performing as Richard?III, “The Whisperer” or friend to 바카라사이트 Countess Spencer. And those performances were foundational in 바카라사이트 mediation of his celebrity.
Liz Schafer is professor of drama and 바카라사이트atre studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her book Theatre & Christianity will be published by Red Globe Press this month
David Garrick and 바카라사이트 Mediation of Celebrity
By Leslie Ritchie
Cambridge University Press, 320pp, ?75.00
ISBN 9781108475877
Published 19 January 2019
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