Burton constable theatre. This evening will be performed, the domestic drama of the momentous question.. by [PRIVATE YORKSHIRE THEATRE] - [1846]

[Yorkshire]: [s.n.], [1846]. Single leaf broadside. Several old horizontal and vertical folds, slight loss to one margin, single small hole (not touching text). Evidence of earlier mounting, sealing wax remnants, postmarks (Hull 25.04.1846 and Melton Mowbray 26.04.1846), penny red stamp, and 'Mrs. Evans Hartopp, Harby, Melton Mowbrary' in manuscript to verso. An attractive playbill for private theatricals at the Elizabethan country house of Burton Constable, Yorkshire. The theatre was created in the 1840s from the first-floor rooms in the south end of the house. Thomas Hugh Clifford-Constable inherited Burton Constable in 1823; his wife Lady Marianne Clifford-Constable appears as Fanny in 'The Momentous Question', along with his son Frederick Talbot Constable (then eighteen). They were joined by Frederick's cousins, the children of Thomas' eldest sister Mary, who had married her cousin Charles Chichester of Caverleigh Court, Devon. Another performer was Edward Samuel Evans Hartopp whose father had established a private playhouse at Little Dalby Hall in Leicestershire. He was a keen amateur actor and an early member of the Canterbury Old Stagers. This playbill likely comes from his own collection and was sent by him to Mrs. Evans Hartopp as a souvenir. . Dimensions 190 x 250 mm.