A journal of the history and technique of the British theatre, exploring a wide interpretation of theatrical activities, covering buildings, performers, techniques, theory and practice connected with British and British-related theatre.
We will however be able to supply pdfs of single or multiple articles.
Theatre Notebook is a journal of the history and technique of the British theatre. It interprets theatre widely, covering theatrical activities inside and outside theatre buildings, professional and amateur theatre, the business of theatre, stage design, the history of theatre buildings, acting technique, and theatre outside the British Isles that relates directly to the history and technique of British theatre.
The Editors of Theatre Notebook welcome offers of contributions that record, analyse, reinterpret and celebrate the achievements of British theatre practitioners from any period, including the very recent past. Essays that focus purely on dramatic literature are not considered.
The Editors recognise the crucial importance of a scholarly approach to facts and interpretation but have no theoretical preferences, recognising the importance of representing a wide spectrum of contemporary positions.
Theatre Notebook is published by the STR three times a year and distributed to subscribers. It is published as a paper journal (also available on Project Muse), with occasional essays also published on the website here.
As you will have read, due to insuperable problems in storing the hard copies of our back catalogue, plus the ever-increasing costs and difficulties in sending them out by post, the STR has decided to stop selling hard copies of its backlist books and past Theatre Notebook issues. Our subscription publications – the Annual Book and Theatre Notebook – will continue to be published in hard copy and sent out to subscribers (with supplies retained for late renewals and lost copies).
We are working on solutions for the books, but we do have a solution for past Theatre Notebook articles right now. The Society has access to a complete run of Theatre Notebook from the first volume to the latest, and we can supply copies of individual articles on demand, in pdf form emailed directly to you, at a cost of £4 per article (£2 for members).
Please consult the Back Issues, using the search facility or browsing, and place an order (or orders) here:
Theatre Notebook Single Article
All enquiries and offers of contributions should be addressed to the editor, Trevor Griffiths. See below for details of submission criteria.
Vol. 79, No. 3 (pp. 139-96, 2025)
John ‘Henry’ Carles (1775-1837): Forgotten Star of the Georgian Stage
Diane Brunning
Staging Race in the British Toy Theatre
James Armstrong
* Wallpaper from the Georgian Theatre at Tenterden, Kent, by Alan Stockwell
* Mrs Grundy at the Theatre, by Jeremy Newton
* The League of Coloured People’s London Production of Una Marson’s At What Price (1934), by Rebecca Cameron
* “A Joyous and Memorable Occasion”: Arthur Lucan and Kitty McShane at “The Cradle of the Stars”, by Robert V Kenny
* Crime and Theatre in England and Wales, 1800-1939: An Exploratory Study, by Bernard Ince
* “The Pantomimes of an Englishman”: The Danish Court Theatre Performances of James Price, 1801-1803, by Ellen Karoline Gjervan
* Looking into the Drama’s Levée for Clues to Madame Vestris’s Reception Across the Atlantic, by Purificación Ribes Traver
* John Rich: The Beggar’s Opera and the Origins of Covent Garden Theatre, by Terry Jenkins
* Travels, Travesti and Ellen Tree: The Unexpected Performance History of Talfourd’s Ion, by Christopher Butcher
* “Blackguardism” and “Surrey fooleries”? David Osbaldiston’s Management of Covent Garden, 1835-37, by Stephen Ridgwell
* An Unknown Painting of Macklin as Shylock?, by Laurence Senelick
* Performing Masculinity: The Toy Theatre Playbooks of Hodgson & Company, London, 1822-1824, by Margaret Lock
Members of the Society for Theatre Research receive Theatre Notebook as a matter of course, along with the Annual Publication and the facility to publicise their own interests, research, and queries.
If you or your organisation require a subscription to Theatre Notebook without membership of the Society, choose ‘Theatre Notebook Only’ on the ‘Join and renew’ page, link below.
Theatre Notebook is published by the STR three times a year. As a journal of the history and technique of the British theatre, we are prepared to consider work on a wide variety of topics concerned with theatre history and practice, but we do not publish essays that are mainly or solely concerned with dramatic literature or literary criticism of play texts.
We do not prescribe maximum or minimum lengths for essays and we welcome essays at any time of the year. We aim to respond to authors within a month, but at particularly busy times that may not always be possible.
Please note, articles should be formatted in accordance with Modern Language Association of America (MLA) style. British spelling should be used and the first names of all persons referred to should be given when they are first mentioned.
Essays will be considered anonymously so they should not contain any identification within the article itself, although we will need a short biographical note about the author when an article is accepted for publication. Authors should confirm that they have obtained and met the cost of any relevant permissions.
Essays that deserve widespread scholarly distribution but are tied to a particular event or date may be considered for publication in our new Occasional Essays section.
All enquiries about contributions are welcome, and should be directed to
theatrenotebook@str.org.uk
or write to
Trevor Griffiths
Theatre Notebook
4 Warner Road
LONDON N8 7HD
The STR website is proud to introduce a new series of occasional essays that will provide an outlet for material that deserves widespread scholarly distribution but is tied to a particular event or date.