(pic courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery)
On the 22nd of August 1843 a new act of law was passed to eliminate the restrictions on regional theatre. Essentially it was designed to curb the powers of the Lord Chamberlain and to stop the patent theatres from continuing their monopoly of the industry. Prior to this act only the patent theatres were allowed to show spoken drama, although a minor adjustment to the previous act of 1788 allowed smaller theatres to produce spoken dramas with a magistrates license, which stopped many regional venues being able to flourish. When the act was passed it allowed local authorities to license theatres fully which led to the growth of musical hall, variety and the regional theatre scene. The other important change made by the law was the decision to stop the Lord Chamberlain from cherry picking which dramas could be shown, from 1843 onwards the Lord Chamberlain, George Sackville-West the 5th Earl De La Warr, would only be able to turn down a play if it:
'is fitting for the preservation of good manners, decorum or of the public peace to do so...'
Of course this would all change 124 years later with the 1968 Theatres Act.
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