Explore more stories from The National’s past with these blog posts.
From the Archives: Julian Eltinge, Female Impersonator
By Lana Mason, Archivist May 5, 2023 The performing art known as drag has a long and rich tradition. In early Western theatre, male actors always portrayed female characters due to prohibitions against women performing on stage. However, beginning in the 17th century, women began to be allowed on stage and so began to portray … Continued
From the Archive: Early Black Theatre at The National
Written by: Lana Mason, Archivist Published: 2/17/2023 For much of the United States’ history, theatre was both implicitly and explicitly a racially segregated environment. The National Theatre, like other white-owned theatres in the South, maintained segregationist policies during the 19th and early 20th centuries. When The National opened in 1835, Washington, D.C. was governed in … Continued