Child’s play: miniature Regency and Victorian theatres – in pictures

In the Regency and Victorian eras, when theatres were filled with melodramatic plays and operas inspired by the gothic revival, children and adults could recreate these dramas in their parlours using miniature wooden theatres. Fourteen of these are on display at Strawberry Hill House, which was created by Horace Walpole, author of the world’s first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. “They were fun,” says Strawberry Hill director Derek Purnell. “There would have been singing and music going on. I’d say they were quirky, but then Strawberry Hill is a very quirky house, so they sit very comfortably in the setting.”