Life and Death (poster)

A splendid example of a poster in early art nouveau style. The villainess is easily identifiable (heroines never wore bright colours), as are the heroine herself and the comic couple. The play dates from 1886 and was first acted at the Grand, Islington; its author, Frank Harvey, was a prolific writer of melodramas, mostly for the provinces. The play itself is an adaptation of Cremieux and D'Ennery's Germaine first performed in Paris in 1858.