Historic Photo Gallery: 1850 to 1899
1854
The 1854-55 season included the debut of one of the most influential playwrights of the 19th
century, Dion Boucicault. At the time of his Walnut debut he was largely unknown, and came
as the manager of his wife Agnes Robertson's tour. Robertson was the adopted daughter of
Charles Kean (son of actor Edmund Kean). Boucicault went on to write or adapt over 130
stage plays, including the anti-slavery play
The Octoroon and Joseph Jefferson's
Rip Van Winkle. He was also a key force in establishing dramatic copyright laws in
America. (Photograph courtesy of the Theatre Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia.)
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