Staging governance

"Between 1770 and 1800, changes in the relationship between metropolitan British society and its colonial holdings, and in the concept of the nation itself, left Britons with a new and often uncertain sense of their own identity. Over the same period, the consolidation of the middle classes was accompanied by growing social constraints on sexuality and family life. Staging Governance locates the intersection of these two trends in the representation of British India on the London stage. Theatrical productions, especially those enacting colonial life, pushed the limits of public discourse on sexuality and colonialism even as the government made efforts to shape and narrow them. At the same time, official speeches and proceedings on colonial practices, such as the public trials of Clive and Hastings, became theatrical events themselves."--Jacket.