As regards the working man's theatrical tastes, they lean, so far as
they go, to the melodrama; but as a matter of fact there are great
masses of working people who never go to the theatre at all. If you
think of it, there are so few theatres accessible that they cannot go
often. For instance, there are for the accommodation of the West-end
and the visitors to London some thirty theatres, and these are nearly
always kept running; but for the densely populous districts of
Islington, Somers Town, Pentonville, and Clerkenwell, combined, there
are only two; for Hoxton and Haggerston, there is only one; for the
vast region of Marylebone and Paddington, only one; for Whitechapel,
'and her daughters,' two; for Shoreditch and Bethnal Green, one; for
Southwark and Blackfriars, one; for the towns of Hampstead, Highgate,
Camden Town, Kentish Town, Stratford, Bow, Bromley, Bermondsey,
Camberwell, Kensington, or Deptford, not one. And yet each one of
these places, taken separately, is a good large town. Stratford, for
instance, has 60,000 inhabitants, and Deptford 80,000. Only half a
dozen theatres for three millions of people! It is quite clear,
therefore, that there is not yet a craving for dramatic art among our
working classes.
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