This collection of essays sets out to challenge the dominant narrative about Victorian theatre by placing the practices and products of the Victorian theatre in relation to Victorian visual culture, through the lens of the concept of 'Ruskinian theatre', an approach to theatre which values its educative purpose as well as its aesthetic expression.

JIM DAVIS is Professor of Theatre Studies and Head of the School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies at the University of Warwick, UK RACHEL DICKINSON is a Senior Lecturer in English at Manchester Metropolitan University, Cheshire, UK RICHARD FOULKES is Professor of Theatre History at the University of Leicester, UK J.A. HILTON is an independent scholar JANICE NORWOOD is a Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Hertfordshire, UK ANDREW LENG teaches interdisciplinary arts courses at the National University of Singapore DAVID MAYER is Emeritus Professor of Drama and Research Professor at the University of Manchester, UK ANDREW TATE is Lecturer in English Literature in the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University, UK SHEARER WEST is Professor of Art History at the University of Birmingham, UK.