Hippodrama
"[1] Arthur Saxon defines the form similarly, as “[...] literally a play in which trained horses are considered as actors, with business, often leading actions, of their own to perform.”[2] Evolving from earlier equestrian circus, pioneered by equestrians including, most famously, Philip Astley in the 1760s,[3] it relied on drama plays written specifically for the genre; trained horses were considered actors along with humans and were even awarded leading roles.
[7] Also at this time, gradual closing of country fairs and discharge of cavalrymen and grooms after the end of the Continental Wars[4] provided both experienced staff and public interest to the new show.
Early hippodrama were presented in London at Astley's Amphitheatre, Royal Circus and Olympic Pavilion; and in Paris at Cirque Olympique,[4] where 36 horse riders could perform simultaneously.
[3] Signor Manfredi presented the first equestrian drama in the United States with his production of "La Fille Hussard" during the 1802–1803 season in New York at the Park Theatre.
[8] The Circus of Pepin and Breschard presented an adaptation of Don Quixote de la Mancha "on horseback and on foot, with combats" in New York City on August 12, 1809.
[4] Astley's 1810 financial success with The Blood Red Knight may have influenced the decision of reluctant management of Covent Garden and Drury Lane theatres to join the lucrative business.
The same stage later that season saw the debut of the first play written specifically to include horses, Timour the Tartar, which premiering at New York's Olympic Theatre the following year.
[4] Mazeppa, or the Wild Horse of Tartary, first staged in England in 1823, became a hit of Astley's Amphitheatre in 1831 and was performed by travelling companies in the United States from 1833; in the 1860s it became a trademark show for Adah Isaacs Menken.
[3] Highwaymen real and fictional proved figures to hang stores on: Dick Turpin's Ride to York[12] and Paul Clifford[13] Equestrian drama became popular in the United States, as well as in England and France, and the Lafayette Circus in New York City, inaugurated in 1825, was the first American theatre building specifically designed for hippodrama, followed by the Philadelphia Amphitheater and the Baltimore Roman Amphitheatre.
[3] Hippodrama shows attracted working class audiences that included labourers and seamen,[14] "ready to riot at the slightest provocations";[15] "in fact, much of recorded rowdyism of the mid-1820s in New York City took place at Lafayette Circus.
[21] A modern one-of-a-kind hippodrama directed by Franz Abraham, an equestrian reenactment of Ben Hur, took place at the O2 arena, London on September 15, 2009.
