History Main / TheWickedStage

Not to be confused with the musical ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}''.

* In the Roman and later Byzantine Empire, "actress" was basically a synonym for "[[TheOldestProfession prostitute]]" (more specifically, a HighClassCallGirl). Indeed, the two professions were very much linked in that time, with the most notable plays being the more licentous ones. This is part of the reason why the emperor Justinian I got criticism for marrying the actress Theodora.

* On 1916, the [[UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts French Council of State]], the supreme court for the administrative jurisdiction, decreed theaters weren't a public service. [[https://www.revuegeneraledudroit.eu/blog/2013/12/11/exploitation-theatrale-et-service-public-nature-juridique-dune-convention-portant-sur-la-concession-dun-emplacement-pour-la-construction-dun-palais-philharmonique/ Commenting]] on this ruling, law teacher Maurice Hauriou wrote that moral justifications played a role, comparing, in their morality as seen then, spectacles to the organisation of public organisations for alcohol and opium.

* Several ''Literature/JeevesAndWooster''-stories deal with some acquaintance or other falling in love with a chorus girl, and the resulting familial disapproval. [[note]]A chorus girl was essentially a professional MsFanservice, and while the stage was becoming respectable at the time of the stories, a chorus girl wasn't many notches above a prostitute. A modern equivalent might be someone declaring they're marrying a stripper.[[/note]] Happens in Wodehouse's ''Literature/BlandingsCastle'' stories as well.

Performing on stage was a disreputable profession in Europe for several centuries. Acting was a transient occupation, and any profession that required extensive travel was regarded with suspicion as its members did not have roots in any specific community. Historically, many crimes, including theft and prostitution, were blamed on actors. Which was ironic considering theatre's origins from ancient Greek religious rites and medieval passion plays performed in churches [[note]] Though perhaps less ironic when one considers what some of those Greek rites [[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy often entailed]]. [[/note]].

* In one of Creator/GKChesterton's Literature/FatherBrown stories, Father Brown realizes that an alleged High Church Anglican is a fake when his poses are inconsistent; for instance, he's severe about acting, which is rather more Low Church.

* In the Literature/SherlockHolmes story ''A Scandal in Bohemia'', the titular detective is hired by a foreign king to find and steal the evidence of the king's scandalous love affair in case it gets used for blackmail. What makes the affair scandalous is, of course, that it was with an opera singer -- a profession only one step at most above actress. Amusingly, in order to retain the scandalous feel of the affair in a more modern setting, the modernised adaptation in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' had to change her from an opera singer to a ''lesbian dominatrix''.

* On 1916, the [[UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts French Council of State]], the supreme court for the administrative jurisdiction, told theaters weren't a public service. [[https://www.revuegeneraledudroit.eu/blog/2013/12/11/exploitation-theatrale-et-service-public-nature-juridique-dune-convention-portant-sur-la-concession-dun-emplacement-pour-la-construction-dun-palais-philharmonique/ Commenting]] on this ruling, law teacher Maurice Hauriou wrote that moral justifications played a role, comparing, in their morality as seen then, spectacles to the organisation of public organisations for alcohol and opium.
-->''Administrative jurisdiction condemn the conception which would make a public service, like during Roman decadence, circus games.''[[labelnote:Original]]La juridiction administrative condamne la conception qui consisterait à ériger en service public, comme à la période de la décadence romaine, les jeux du cirque[[/labelnote]]

The 19th century saw a great amount of conscious effort to purify the stage, while the 20th century saw the rise in popularity of motion pictures and later television, all of which helped to make performing on stage far more respectable. Nowadays, TheatreIsTrueActing and it's more common for the film and music industries to be depicted as hotbeds of corruption and fragile egos. See HorribleHollywood and MusicIsPolitics.

The 19th century saw a great amount of conscious effort to purify the stage, while the 20th century saw the rise in popularity of motion pictures and later television, all of which helped to make performing on stage far more respectable. Nowadays, it's more common for the film and music industries to be depicted as hotbeds of corruption and fragile egos. See HorribleHollywood and MusicIsPolitics.

Other professions that involved performing on stage could also carry the same negative image, such as singing or dancing. In Western films and TV shows, screenwriters invented the notion of frontier "dance hall performers" to get around Hays Code moral rules. When they wanted to depicted a cowboy or gunslinger visit a brothel and see a prostitute, this was euphemistically referred to as seeing a dance hall performer.

Other professions that involved performing on stage could also carry the same negative image, such as singing or dancing.

* The French Catholic Church [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excommunication_of_actors_by_the_Catholic_Church#In_France actually forbade actors from being buried in churchyards.]] Even {{Creator/Moliere}} only got a spot among the poor and the suicides, and even then only because Louis XIV himself intervened.

* The French Catholic Church [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excommunication_of_actors_by_the_Catholic_Church#Limitations_on_French_theatre_imposed_by_Church actually forbade actors from being buried in churchyards.]] Even {{Creator/Moliere}} only got a spot among the poor and the suicides, and even then only because Louis XIV himself intervened.

->''Administrative jurisdiction condemn the conception which would make a public service, like during Roman decadence, circus games.''[[labelnote:Original]]La juridiction administrative condamne la conception qui consisterait à ériger en service public, comme à la période de la décadence romaine, les jeux du cirque[[/labelnote]]

* Christian of the ''Literature/Buddenbrooks'' has an affair and an extramarital child with actress Aline Puvogel who has had two other extramarital children before meeting Christian. When he eventually marries her, she promptly sends him off to an asylum, so that she can spend his inherited fortune as she pleases.