Imagine arriving for an evening out and finding an enormous crowd already waiting outside. The hall could hold 1,500 people, but there seemed to be even more than that trying to get in.
They hadn’t come to see a famous singer or an elaborate stage production. They had come for an evening of penny readings.
During the 1860s, penny readings became a popular form of entertainment across Victorian England. For just one penny, people could listen to stories, poetry, humorous readings and music, often performed by local people giving their time voluntarily.
In 1867, Thomas Wright published an account of his experiences in a book called Some Habits and Customs of the Working Classes. He described attending a penny reading where the crowd rushed through the doors as soon as they opened, desperate to find seats.
The hall quickly filled, with some people still left outside. One woman sitting nearby remarked that she was glad she hadn’t worn her steel crinoline, as she was convinced it would have been damaged in the crush.
The evening’s entertainment included readings from Shakespeare, Walter Scott and Charles Dickens, along with songs, piano music and a flute performance.
But the greatest success was a reading from The Pickwick Papers.
A reader Wright calls Mr Smith had become such a favourite with the audience that they greeted him with cheers. His performance was so entertaining that the hall was repeatedly filled with laughter.
Of course, not every reader was quite so successful. Wright also described audiences at other penny readings becoming impatient with poor performances, sometimes coughing, stamping their feet or interrupting.
Penny readings were organised in towns and villages, often with the involvement of churches, schools and local societies. Some raised money for charitable causes, while others aimed to provide affordable entertainment and encourage an interest in literature.
For people who couldn’t afford many books, or who struggled with reading themselves, these evenings offered an opportunity to enjoy stories they might otherwise never have encountered.
And I rather like the thought of a whole hall laughing together at the adventures of Mr Pickwick. It reminds us that the Victorians enjoyed a good story and a good laugh just as much as we do.
All for the price of a penny.
Would you have enjoyed an evening of penny readings, or would you have preferred the Victorian music hall?
Image info:
A Penny Reading at the Quarters of the 91st Highlanders, Aldershot, 1871. Engraving from The Graphic, after a sketch by Captain Robley. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
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