Abstract
Between 1883 and 1935, the Canterbury Shakers planned and performed more than 120 “Entertainments,” including skits, tableaus, plays, cantatas, concerts, and parades. Influenced by the popularity of amateur theater in the United States, the Shakers copied poems from newspapers, bought volumes of plays, and took over an entire room on the third floor of their 1793 Dwelling House to store their costumes, props, and other Entertainment paraphernalia. Entertainments were clearly not a brief aberration in the community’s long history, but rather a cherished and beloved institution that endured for more than half a century.
Date
10-1-2024
Volume
18
Number
4
First Page
235
Last Page
255
Journal Title
American Communal Societies Quarterly
ISSN
1939-473X
