A Victorian Magic Show

Wilton’s resident magician, Katherine Rhodes, transports us back in time as part of our week-long celebration of the history of British Music Hall entertainment.

The Victorians were fascinated by the unknown, the inexplicable and the emerging discoveries of travel and science. Their insatiable curiosity as well as their gullibility and preoccupation with death prompted a host of conjurors, illusionists and mediums, who came under the scrutiny of well-known figures such as Houdini who were keen to dispel the myths and expose the charlatans. Audiences flocked to see everything from card tricks, vanishing ladies and escapologists to levitation and séances.

Katherine will recreate, before your very eyes, an intriguing evening of classic nineteenth century stage magic and illusion, addressed in her own inimitable style. Expect her usual display of ingenuity and baffling feats but prepare to be mesmerised by tricks first witnessed by John Wilton’s audiences and brace yourself for an authentic element of the darker Victorian arts.

Don’t forget to bring the smelling salts!