There are just a few very well-known names from the theatre of the 18th century – Sheridan, Goldsmith, Garrick and some other, less well known. One playwright you have probably never heard of is John Borgoyne – well not as a playwright anyway. In his biography of Burgoyne ‘From the Battlefield to the Stage’ Professor Norman Poser unpicks the often scarce and conflicting sources and tells the story of Burgouyne from his beginnings, through his military career and his theatrical successes. I spoke to Professor Poser on Zoom from his home in New York.
About the author: Norman S. Poser is the author of From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General Burgoyne (the first biography of the Georgian general and socialite to explore his plays in detail). Prof. Poser’s previous historical books are Lord Mansfield: Justice in the Age of Reason, also published by McGill-Queen’s University Press, and The Birth of Modern Theatre: Rivalry, Riots, and Romance in the Age of Garrick (Routledge). An Emeritus Law Professor at Brooklyn Law School, he lives with his wife in New York. Before retiring and becoming a full-time author passionate about the Georgian era on both sides of the Atlantic, he was an internationally respected academic for many years. Prior to this, he was Chief of the Office of Regulation and an Assistant Director at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He was also a consultant to the World Bank in Central America, the Central Bank of Brazil and the Ministry of Finance in India.
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