In late 1823- early 1824 London society was agog at news of a brutal murder that took place just north of the metropolis in Hertfordshire. A professional gambler, William Weare, was killed by John Thurtell and his accomplices Joseph Hunt and William Probert, all denizens of the ‘flash’ underworld that was the subject of Pierce Egan’s outstandingly successful book and play, Life in London (1821). The minor theatres of the Surrey and the Royal Coburg, the latter only recently opened in 1818, sought to capitalise on the sensational case by putting on melodramas in the weeks following news of the murder breaking in the London press in late October 1823. These plays were subject to censorship, unusually not by the authorities, but by legal intervention on the behalf of the accused John Thurtell on the grounds that the virtual re-enactment of the murder (including the appearance of the actual carriage or gig used to transport Weare to his death) would prejudice his trial in February 1824. The fate of these dramas thus represents a new perspective on the history of the censorship of the theatre, as well as offering insights into the intersections of theatre, scandalous celebrity, the metropolitan ‘flash’, print publicity, and the genre of melodrama in the formative decade of the 1820s.

This chapter focuses on David Garrick as the most important catalyst for acoustic change in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. His naturalistic style of acting has often been discussed within the wider context of the Enlightment. Largely overlooked, though, is the impact of his voice, which was notoriously marked by regional inflections, and of his debut as Richard III in one of London's illegitimate theatres, on two important movements, led by two men, both called John Palmer. These two movements aimed to widen access to Shakespeare by obtaining licences for regional theatres and by encouraging non-professional actors, amateurs and enthusiasts from lower-status social groups to perform Shakespeare in non-conventional venues, ranging from minor or private theatres, to smaller performance houses and song and supper clubs.