Early Theatrical Posters CD
	"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..." William Shakespeare (As You Like It) Since time immemorial, mankind has had a powerful urge to put reality aside and don masks, enact fictitious situations and find a platform to express its dissatisfaction with injustice. For maximum effect, all these are necessarily done from a platform - which is how the dramatic stage was born.

It is now acknowledged that the ancient Greeks were the inventors of drama or theatre as we know it today. It basically took the forms of tragedy, comedy and satire plays. These were usually hard-hitting depictions with next to no peripheral embellishments, and rarely detracted from the central theme. In the latter part of the 5th century, theatre began to evolve into its present format... music, sound effects and elaborate costumes became part of the landscape and the concept of ‘stage production’ was born. To propagate the inalienable commercial factor, a variety of media were employed to announce new productions, especially when the first ‘stars’ began drawing crowds by their sheer charisma. This is how the first theatrical posters came into being, soon to evolve into an art form in their own right.

Sample thumbnails taken from the collection. Click on image to view larger picture.

The Early Theatrical Posters CD from A2ZCDS features over 2500 extremely rare, high resolution posters from early theatrical films, plays, musicals, comedies, dances, magic acts, and performances on CD-Rom! The posters cover a broad subject area and include Acrobats, Aerialists, Animal Acts, Ballet, Burlesque, Famous Comedians, Cowboys and Cowgirls, Dance, Drama, Minstrel Shows, Musical Revues, Opera and Vaudeville Shows. The world of stage drama is superbly represented in all its formats and over various epochs in human history. You will see some of the most famous stage personalities the world has ever known as they appeared on posters when their plays were the talk of the town.

EDITORIAL REVIEW:

You don’t have to be a theatre buff to thoroughly enjoy this scintillating collection of historical posters. You don’t have to be a sociologist to detect and appreciate the social undercurrents that many of the depicted personalities were part of, and often represented. Yes, it does help to have a working knowledge of history - but who hasn’t heard the names of showman P.T. Barnum, legendary musicians like Billy King, illusionists Harry Houdini and H.B. Reynolds and famous productions like ‘Venice, The Bridge of the Sea’ and Hoyt’s ‘A Hole In The Ground’?

Here you will meet them the way their audiences first did - on now historical posters that qualify as genuine antiques; of immense interest value to every generation, and of priceless value to theatre lovers who wish to retrace the roots of the dramatic stage. This collection gives us a true appreciation of what Shakespeare meant when he wrote:

‘All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.’

CUSTOMER'S REVIEWS:

"For a theatre lover, this cannot be anything but a blast from the past. I loved the grainy, dusty atmosphere that these posters convey - as though they have just been pulled out of some long-dead agent’s cupboard. Have YOU ever wondered what Harry Houdini really LOOKED like? Well, here’s you chance to find out. The Early Theatrical Posters CD from A2ZCDS is a true gem of a time capsule."

Customer's Name: Avila Monterey (Stamford, Connecticut)