Between 1895 and 1922 the Anglo-American actor and manager, Maurice E. Bandmann (1872-1922) created a theatrical circuit that extended from Gibraltar to Tokyo and included regular tours to the West Indies and South America. With headquarters in Calcutta and Cairo and companies listed on the Indian stock exchange, his operations represent a significant shift towards the globalization of theatre. This study focuses on seven key areas: family networks; the business of theatrical touring; the politics of locality; repertoire and publics; an ethnography of itinerant acting; legal disputes and the provision of theatrical infrastructure. It draws on global and transnational history, network theory and analysis as well as in-depth archival research to provide a new approach to studying theatre in the age of empire.

Christopher B. Balme holds the chair in theatre studies at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen. His books include The Theatrical Public Sphere (Cambridge, 2014) and he is a senior co-editor of the six-volume Cultural History of Theatre (2017). He is principal investigator of the ERC project 'Developing Theatre'.