• HOME
• THE LANGUAGE OF MADNESS
• THE ASYLUM
• • Asylum Design
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• SOCIETY
• • Urban & Rural Life
  • Class & Gender
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  • The Evils of "Self-Abuse"
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• LEGISLATION
• • Legislative Influence
  • Origins of Legislation and the Criminality of Insanity
  • Teenaged Years: Marked Custody Transition
  • Turn of the Century: Voluntary Admissions
  • Updated Act: The Mental Hospital Act
• SUPERINTENDANTS
• STAFF
• • Working at the LAI
  • Hiring Practices
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• PATIENT PERSPECTIVES
• • Introduction
  • Patient Art
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  • Their Voice
• MEDICAL TREATMENTS
• • Medical Treatment Introduction
  • Use of Restraints
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• MORAL THERAPY
• • Moral Therapy Introduction
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• THE WORLD WARS
• • Before the First World War
  • During the First World War
  • After the First World War
  • The First World War and the LAI
  • First World War Veterans at the LAI
  • The Second World War
• MEMORIES OF RMHCL
• • Introduction
  • Their Memories

Entertainment

Amusements  |   Sports  |   Entertainment   |   Field Trips

"The piece was put on in a manner that would have been credible to a professional theatrical company, and held the attention of the audience from the rise of the curtain [to] the close of the second act..." The London News, February 23, 1897

It was believed that entertainment would not only cheer the patients up but also offer a distraction from life in the asylum. Various kinds of entertainment were welcomed at the London Asylum as another form of moral therapy. Musical and theatrical groups performed for the patients and staff. These performances inspired the London Asylum to also establish its own Musical Troupe and Asylum Dramatic Club in which the patients and staff could participate. These groups put on shows for the benefit of others at the institution or in the community. In one instance, when the patients performed for city officials, they were praised in the local newspaper which stated it was "[one of] the pleasantest evenings they had spent for many years." In the 1876 Annual Report, the superintendent requested a grant to purchase instruments to fulfill the patients' desire to have a musical element in their therapy.

Another form of entertainment was weekly dances offered by the staff of the LAI. Attendants were encouraged to dance with the patients in order to create a comfortable atmosphere for them. Dancing was an enjoyable form of moral therapy that placed patients in social situations where they could interact with each other and the staff.