Ambassadors of Empire: Child Performers and Colonial Audiences, 1835-1880 asks how the movement of child performers along global theatrical circuits affirmed Anglo-American cultural values, served imperial interests, and provoked debate about colonial as well as national identity in the mid-nineteenth century. Bridging recent scholarship in theatre and performance studies, childhood studies, postcolonial studies, and literary studies, this SSHRC-funded project considers the importance of performing children to the maintenance of affective ties between metropole and colony. By offering a more complete account of the number of child performers who moved (in both directions) across the Atlantic between 1835 and 1880, the range of roles and performance styles they presented, and their reception by colonial and metropolitan audiences, Ambassadors of Empire highlights children’s contributions to the development of transatlantic performance culture and their critical involvement in imperial projects.