Horace Walpole’s The Mysterious Mother
A Staged Reading with Talk-back Session and
A Mini-Conference

As part of the year-long celebrations of the tercentenary of Horace Walpole’s birth and marking the 250th anniversary of the first printing of The Mysterious Mother (1768), the Lewis Walpole Library and the Yale Center for British Art will jointly present a staged reading of the play followed by a talk-back session. Completed just a few years after Walpole’s celebrated gothic novel The Castle of Otranto (1764), this under-appreciated tale of incest and intrigue was initially circulated only among the author’s friends. Walpole never permitted it to be performed during his lifetime except as a private theatrical event.

In association with the performance, the Library has organized a one day mini-conference to explore aspects of both reading and staging Walpole’s play. A breakout session will look at The Mysterious Mother drawings by Lady Diana Beauclerk. Advanced registration is required for the breakout session only.

Both events are free and open to the public.

Image Caption: Lady Diana Beauclerk, The Mysterious Mother: Act 4th, Scene 3d, 1776.