Awards

• Winner of Research Award for an Outstanding Book in Theatre Practice and Pedagogy 1998
• Winner of Research Award for an Outstanding Book in Theatre Practice and Pedagogy 2017

Overview

For many years the study of pre-seventeenth-century English drama was shaped largely by an understanding that everything written revolved around the individual author, either as part of the tradition that prepared the way for Shakespeare or as part of his legacy. Now twenty-five original essays by leading theorists and historians chart a paradigmatic shift within the field. In contrast to the traditional emphasis on individual authors, the contributors here explore the place of the stage within the larger society, as well as issues of performance and physical space. The essays are organized into three sections: ""Early English Drama and Physical Space"" examines the settings in which plays were acted; ""Early English Drama and Social Space"" juxtaposes the theater with such contemporary subcultures as the church, the city, and the court. Finally, ""Early English Drama and Conditions of Performance and Publication"" explores a wide range of material conditions and contexts, from props to printers. A major summary of contemporary scholarship and a storehouse of new theoretical and historical information, A New History of Early English Drama skillfully illustrates the complex influence of physical and social elements woven into the texts, and provides an innovative approach to literary studies and cultural history.

Full Product Details

Author:   John Cox ,  David Scott Kastan ,  Stephen Greenblatt
Publisher:   Columbia University Press
Imprint:   Columbia University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 3.20cm , Length: 23.20cm
Weight:   0.808kg
ISBN:  

9780231102438

ISBN 10:   0231102437
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   01 June 1997
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

Introduction: Demanding History World Pictures, Modern Periods, and the Early Stage, by Margreta de Grazia The English Church as Theatrical Space, by John M. Wasson, A Commonty a Christmas gambold or a tumbling trick: Household Theater, by Suzanne Westfall The Universities: Early Staging in Cambridge, by Alan H. Nelson Early Staging in Oxford, by John R. Elliott, Jr. Streets and Markets, by Anne Higgins The Theaters, by John Orrell Rowme of its Own: Printed Drama in Early Libraries, by Heidi Brayman Hackel Theater and Religious Culture, by Paul Whitfield White Wonderful Spectacles: Theater and Civic Culture, by Gordon Kipling, The Theater and Domestic Culture, by Diana E. Henderson Entertainments at Court, by Graham Parry The Theater and Literary Culture, by Barbara A. Mowat Theater and Popular Culture, by Michael D. Bristol Touring, by Peter H. Greenfield Cloathes worth all the rest: Costumes and Properties, by Jean MacIntyre and Garret P.J. Epp Censorship, by Richard Dutton Audiences: Investigation, Interpretation, Invention, by Ann Jennalie Cook Rogues and Rhetoricians: Acting Styles in Early English Drama, by Peter Thomson Personnel and Professionalization, by W.R. Streitberger Playwriting: Authorship and Collaboration, by Jeffrey Masten The Publication of Playbooks, by Peter W. M. Blaney Patronage and the Economics of Theater, by Kathleen E. McLuskie and Felicity Dunsworth The Revision of Scripts, by Eric Rasmussen The Repertory, by Roslyn L. Knutson Plays in Manuscript, by Paul Werstine

Reviews

It is a book that every serious student of early English drama will want to own. -- Alan Somerset, Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England The twenty six essays in this valuable and much-needed work focus particularly on the social and material implications of performance spaces from street to court; the ways in which religious, civic, domestic, courtly, literary, and popular expectations affected the drama [prior to 1642]; and the conditions under which plays were produced and disseminated. The collection provides an accurate and authoritative overview of the early English drama, embeds it in the historical conditions of its production, and suggests directions for future study. The bibliography, index, and play index all cover the entire book, so that one can easily locate a topic wherever it appears. -- Choice

It is a book that every serious student of early English drama will want to own. -- Alan Somerset Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England The twenty six essays in this valuable and much-needed work focus particularly on the social and material implications of performance spaces from street to court; the ways in which religious, civic, domestic, courtly, literary, and popular expectations affected the drama [prior to 1642]; and the conditions under which plays were produced and disseminated. The collection provides an accurate and authoritative overview of the early English drama, embeds it in the historical conditions of its production, and suggests directions for future study. The bibliography, index, and play index all cover the entire book, so that one can easily locate a topic wherever it appears. Choice

Author Information

John D. Cox is the DuMez Professor of English at Hope College. David Scott Kastan is professor of English at Columbia University.

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