News

Website Reorganization

In order to create a more user friendly interface, the London Stage Database team is restructuring the content and pages on the website. Information from the old “About” and “User Guide” pages has been reorganized into shorter, more easily digested subpages, and dropdown menus make it easier for users to navigate to the information they need. Special thanks go out to Michele Pflug, Emma Kaisner, Erin Winter, Franny Gaede, and John Zhao, as well as our Advisory Board for their input as the team worked on these changes. Read on to learn about the major changes to look out for on the website! Highlights of the content reorganization: The User Guide now contains an About the Data page for users to learn about working with LSDB data and its limitations. The section of the User Guide formerly known as “Key Terms” is now a separate Glossary page, with important historical and theatrical terms... Read More

Updates Coming to the London Stage Database

The London Stage Database team has received a Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. With support of this grant, we will be bringing a number of exciting changes to the website. Image courtesy of Folger Digital Collections Currently, the LSDB contains tens of thousands of event entries of eighteenth-century performances in London. But what did this world of eighteenth-century theater look like? As we continue to expand the database, one of our goals is to incorporate playbills, maps, newspapers advertisements, and more theatrical artifacts, in order to breathe life into the rich history of London’s theater scene. For example, the playbill shown here advertises a performance of Romeo and Juliet at Drury Lane on October 11, 1754, starring a 37-year-old as David Garrick as one of the lovestruck teenage protagonists. The website will also be undergoing a couple of changes to make the database a more user-friendly experience. This... Read More

LSDB in the News: Data is Plural

The Data is Plural Podcast, Season 1, Ep. 2 Listen to a podcast on the history of the London Stage database with project director Mattie Burkert and data journalist Jeremy Singer-Vine, who has since joined the project’s Advisory Board.

LSDB in the News: The Economist

“Greatness Thrust upon Him”  The Economist data journalist, James Tozer, utilizes the London Stage Database to explore Shakespeare’s rise to fame and compare trending Shakespearean performances in the 18th century to his most popular today. As part of his reporting, he interviews Professor Fiona Ritchie (McGill University), who is now a member of the LSDB Advisory Board.

LSDB in the News: Nightingale Magazine

Read Jeremy Singer-Vine’s review of the London Stage Database, which he selected for the Nightingale magazine’s inaugural Data is Plural Visualization Challenge. You can also check out the visualization entries chosen by the editors to run in the following issue of the magazine.