Shadow show poster

Title	"Trewey premier shadowgraphiste, mime & comedien"
Printer	Stafford & Company
Place	Netherfield (Great Britain)
Date	circa 1900
Register	03280

Félicien Trewey (1848–1920) was a French magician, prestidigitator, mime, comedian and shadowgrapher who perfected the art of shadowgraphy (ombromanie) as a spectacle. In his performances throughout Europe, he depicted with his hands the silhouettes of animals, popular characters, such as Robinson Crusoe, and celebrities of the time, such as Émile Zola, Otto von Bismarck and Tsar Alexander III. The poster advertised his show at the Alcazar d'Été in Paris, a fashionable café-cabaret located in a building near the Champs-Elysées, which was active from 1860 to 1914. His performance was billed as a compendium of magic, shadow projection, mime, female impersonation and humour, on a stage where dance, singing and theatre performances were also performed. He claimed to be the first shadowgrapher and was the author of The Art of Shadowgraphy: How it is Done, published in the same year as that of his death. He introduced the Lumière brothers' cinematograph to England and starred in some of the first films, where he showed his ability as a prestidigitator and quick change artiste, a performance he already did in the shows, as can be seen in the poster.

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