Riverside Theatre

Tony Bareham presents
SEATS OF PLEASURE
This will be the fifth of a series of shows directed by Professor Bareham, all with a similar
format. The previous ones were on Charles Lever, on Lord Byron, Chasing The Cheerless
Gloom (a meditation on Winter in literature and music), and Entrances and Exits: A Tribute
to Shakespeare.
Readings from appropriate literary texts are accompanied by relevant projected images,
and the readings are interspersed with songs and music appropriate to the period/theme.
Musical Director is Eric Boyd.
Seats of Pleasure will take a look at the eighteenth century pleasure gardens as
represented in literature, art and music. A significant number of novelists sent their
characters to Vauxhall or Ranelagh, and the range of experiences – from near rape to
innocent adulation – gives an entertaining cross section of voices and opinions. These
are strengthened by authentic accounts from travellers and visitors, who recorded their
impressions.
Friday 12 February at 8pm
Tickets: £14 and £11 concession