Two Last Nights: Show Business in Georgian Britain


Fascinating exhibition at the Foundling Museum a look at entertainment in Georgian Britain.

The show described itself as “a how-to guide to going to a show in eighteenth century Britain” and covered the theatre, the Foundling Chapel, Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens and music festivals. It took you through every aspect from buying a ticket, what to wear, what you’d have seen and where you’d have eaten.

The show ranged throughout the museum with the main section in the basement looking at theatre and was designed like the foyer of a theatre. It examined the opera and spoken word plays with sections on the main London theatres of the time and a look at regional touring theatre. I loved the idea that one ticket was printed for the season with the show name and seat numbers being hand written on each ticket. I’d not realised that a box office originally only sold tickets for the boxes with a pay booth for other tickets.

The Handel room at the top of the building looked at the growth in music festivals around the country and the role that oratorios played in this while the first floor looked at the benefit concerts held in the Foundling Hospitals own chapel.

I was most excited to see the section on Vauxhall Gardens and in particular one of the original paintings from a dining box which they had recreated. My father had had an interest in the music of Vauxhall gardens so it was lovely to find out more about them. The picture was by Francis Hayman and his studio that produced 50 for dining boxes of which only 15 survive.

However I’m still not sure why the exhibition was called Two Last Nights.

Closes on 5 January 2019

Review
Evening Standard

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