Playbill for Sadler's Wells Theatre
J.W Last (Printer)
London, England
December 1861
Printed Playbill
Height 49cm x width 23cm

This playbill advertises the 1861 Christmas pantomime at Sadler's Wells. By this date, theatrical scenery and effects were becoming increasingly sophisticated and are described here in great detail. In the days before foreign travel was widely available, audiences loved to see exotic locations on stage, like 'the great Lybian desert with the amber tree'. The scenery was now as great an attraction at the theatre as its starring actors. The amount of information included on playbills meant that they were becoming too awkward to handle at the theatre, this was a contributing factor in the introduction of theatre programmes at about this time.

Pantomimes were usually based on well known tales, but like today, included references to topical events. This playbill refers to a scene at the 1862 exhibition in Kensington which had not yet opened, and to another at a railway terminus.