Tragedy a la mode (1761) is the first marionette play written by Samuel Foote. This short play is written in the “play-within-a-play” style. Moreover, Fustian, a character in the play (played by Foote himself), says to theatre critics that he demonstrates a new “Tragedy a la mode” by using one actor and three life-size pasteboard marionettes. This kind of coacting is an epoch-making experiment; however, previous studies neither paid any attention to Tragedy nor considered these marionettes.
In this paper, I study the significance of these marionettes in eighteenth-century London and aim to highlight the new aspects in this play. Therefore, I would first like to examine the manner in which life-size pasteboard marionettes were positioned in eighteenth-century London, by comparing the fashionable marionette shows in vogue at the time and exploring the uniqueness of Foote's marionettes. Secondly, with the help of these figures, drawing from the acting style of David Garrick supported by “Physiognomy,” I want to clarify that Tragedy presents a fundamental question about “acting.” The purpose of this paper is to study why life-size pasteboard marionettes are adopted, and to reevaluate this play as the one that uses the “play-within-a-play” style skillfully.
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