Editing English drama (section)

==Victorian era==
[[File:Circa-1879-DOyly-Carte-HMS-Pinafore-from-Library-of-Congress2.jpg|180px|left]]
A change came in the [[Victorian era]] with a profusion on the London stage of [[farce]]s, [[Victorian burlesque|musical burlesques]], [[extravaganza]]s and [[comic opera]]s that competed with [[Shakespeare]] productions and serious drama by the likes of [[James Planché]] and [[Thomas William Robertson]].  In 1855, the [[German Reed Entertainments]] began a process of elevating the level of (formerly risqué) musical theatre in Britain that culminated in the famous series of comic operas by [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] and were followed by the 1890s with the first [[Edwardian musical comedies]]. [[W. S. Gilbert]] and [[Oscar Wilde]] were leading poets and dramatists of the late Victorian period.<ref>Stedman, Jane W. (1996). ''[[W. S. Gilbert]], A Classic Victorian & His Theatre''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-816174-3}}</ref>  Wilde's plays, in particular, stand apart from the many now forgotten plays of Victorian times and have a much closer relationship to those of the [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] dramatists such as Irishman [[George Bernard Shaw]] and Norwegian [[Henrik Ibsen]].

The length of runs in the theatre changed rapidly during the Victorian period.  As transportation improved, poverty in London diminished, and street lighting made for safer travel at night, the number of potential patrons for the growing number of theatres increased enormously.  Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits and improved production values.  The first play to achieve 500 consecutive performances was the London comedy ''[[Our Boys]]'', opening in 1875.  Its astonishing new record of 1,362 performances was bested in 1892 by ''[[Charley's Aunt]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&www.stagebeauty.net/th-longr.html|title=Stage Beauty|website=www.stagebeauty.net}}</ref>  Several of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s [[comic opera]]s broke the 500-performance barrier, beginning with ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'' in 1878, and [[Alfred Cellier]] and [[B. C. Stephenson]]'s 1886 hit, ''[[Dorothy (opera)|Dorothy]]'', ran for 931 performances.