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"In Victorian times the performing space, be it stage, music hall platform, or circus ring could be as dangerous as mine, mill or factory. Behind the spectacle and splendour lurked disaster, destitution and death. Surprisingly, many stage hands were injured and killed during a performance. Flymen whose place of work was a narrow gallery high above the stage were in constant danger of falling to the stage far below. Many examples are recorded including 27 fatalities. To attend a show in the audience was hazardous too, as stairs and balconies were prone to collapse in vastly overcrowded venues. Spectators falling from the gallery into the pit was by no means rare - 43 entries about those. Audiences were constantly afraid of fire and a single shout of ""Fire!"" could start a panic that resulted in many injuries and fatalities even when not a spark existed. This book comprises a miscellany of accidents in two parts - those backstage and those within the auditorium."

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9780956501394

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"ALAN STOCKWELL was a professional puppeteer for over forty years and appointed MBE in 2000 for services to education in the north-east of England. He is the author of many articles on the theatre, magic, circus and puppetry. His fiction books include pastiche Sherlock Holmes stories. His well-regarded ""What's the Play and Where's the Stage"" about the extended Penley family who were actors and managers during the late Georgian to early Victorian periods, brought to light many previously unknown facts about the provincial theatre of those periods. www.vesperhawk.com Brenda has been wife and professional partner of Alan Stockwell for 59 years. Their puppets have been seen in all the principal cities of the UK and several foreign lands including Borneo, Brazil, Egypt, Turkey, and most of the Gulf States."

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