Essay On The Astor Place Riot

Morgan Robertson
Thea 336 History of Theatre II
Essay #2: Book Report: The Astor Place Riot written by Richard Moody
The day of May 10, 1849 was a very important day in the United States of America theatre history. This day, the Astor Place riot took place. This riot was not merely because of a show, but for a much larger reason. It was all about the rivalry between the true blue American actor, Edwin Forrest, and his English tea-sipping silk-stockinged counterpart, William Charles Macready. The entirety of the debate was which was better at playing the William Shakespeare roles to which they both commonly played. The riot began on a night when Macready was playing the part of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s famed play Hamlet. Many of Edwin Forrest’s noble followers did not want to see William Charles Macready play a part that they believed Edwin Forrest could play much better, much less play the part in a United States of American theatre. The rivalry was grown in many ways, mostly from the growing gap between the upper class, who preferred William Charles Macready, and the middle class, who preferred Edwin Forrest. The tension between the United States of America and England had also not fully settled.
Both, William Charles Macready and Edwin Forrest, had completed tours of their respective countries as well as their competitors’ countries. William Charles Macready was on the final leg of his third and final tour of the United States of America when the riot happened. When both began their careers, they were well-respected actors of William Shakespeare’s work. As both actors’ fame grew, the rivalry did as well. When Edwin Forrest completed his first tour in England, he was wildly popular. On Edwin Forrest’s second tour he was much le...

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...e theatre with them. The theatre sold out the seats and, as they normally would, began to sell isle standing spots for the show. They oversold the show by three-hundred people. When the doors closed and the show began, the audience began to get rowdy. The many Edwin supporters who could not get in crowded the streets around the theatre. It was estimated that around 10,000 people showed up that night.
By the end of the night, approximately 31 people were dead, 48 were wounded, and 60 policemen were injured. Of the militia who were called in, 141 were injured by things thrown from the crowd, bricks, stones, and bottles, anything they could find.
The amount of casualties and injuries makes this one of the most deadly riots in American history. Many of the rioters were prosecuted and the militia were praised with how well they handled the situation upon their arrival.