In the performance history of Allan Ramsay’s The Gentle Shepherd, adapting, condensing, and even performing single scenes and songs is a relatively common occurrence, and is one of the reasons why the pastoral comedy remained in the performance repertory long into late nineteenth century. Ramsay himself started this tradition, when he adapted the play into a ballad opera, demonstrating that the material could be changed to suit a different format, and that he, as the author, was open to such changes. The talk will showcase how The Gentle Shepherd emerged as one of the most celebrated and influential of eighteenth-century Scottish dramas and will show that the key to its success was its adaptability.

The Speaker:

Brianna E. Robertson-Kirkland is a Lecturer in Historical Musicology at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and her most recent publications include Venanzio Rauzzini and the Birth of a New Style in English Singing Scandalous Lessons (2022) and Allan Ramsay’s The Tea Table Miscellany co-edited with Professor Murray Pittock (2023). She is the current BSECS-Georgian Papers Fellow for 2023, where she is investigating Dorothea Jordan, a prima donna who was also the known mistress of William IV.

BOOKINGS:  

STR lectures are free and open to the public. You don’t have to be a member, but it is essential to book to let us know if you wish to watch via the zoom livestream. Links to the livestream will be emailed to those who have booked and also added to the event before it starts.