This poster is for the Hillsborough Theatre Royal. It was an amateur theatre group based in the village of Hillsborough in the mid-nineteenth century.
On 28 December 1849, they performed in Hillsborough Castle, the home of Lord and Lady Downshire. This is a report of the event:
Another grand entertainment was given at Hillsborough Castle … by the noble owners, to their retainers, and their families, in addition to large party staying in the house. The charming operetta of “No Song, No Supper” was performed, by the amateurs, amidst bursts of applause and shouts of laughter; and we regret that our limited space will not allow us to dwell on the respective merits of the actors – suffice it to say, that the grace and beauty of the ladies who kindly undertook the parts of Margaretta, Dorothea and Louisa have seldom been surpassed; and the spirit and zest with which the gentlemen acquitted themselves are beyond all praise.
The various arrangements of the scenery, dresses, etc., were perfect as anything ever witnessed; the orchestra was conducted by one whose science and taste are unrivalled; and the merits of the vocal department elicited unbounded applause, not more from the brilliancy of the solos than the truth with which the concerted pieces were rendered.
On several nights since, this play, with the addition of the laughable farce of “Tom Thumb,” was repeated to a numerous and distinguished audience, who separated at a late hour, highly delighted with the novelty and éclat of the evening’s amusement. The guests on these occasions included members of the following families of note in the Province: The Fordes, Blackwood Prices, Blackwoods, Gordons, Mussendens, Warings, Batesons, Batts, Anketells, Crommelins, Leslies, Perceval Maxwells, Montgomerys, Crawfords, Hamiltons, Blackers, Greggs, Dollings, Reillvs, Legges, Kers, Goddards, Watson (Brookhill), Wakefields, Bainbrigges, etc.
(From the Newry Telegraph, 3 January 1850)
