{"product_id":"a-common-stage-theater-and-public-life-in-medieval-arras-hardback-9780801445811","title":"A Common Stage; Theater and Public Life in Medieval Arras (Hardback) 9780801445811","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eA Common Stage\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eTheater and Public Life in Medieval Arras\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eCarol Symes (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780801445811\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 24 August 2007\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e344 pages\u003cbr\u003e23.8 x 16.8 x 2.7 cm, 0.907 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCarol Symes analyzes five of Europe's earliest vernacular plays created in the medieval town of Arras.... She entertains and educates in this most revealing book, making interesting connections between the public sphere and the creation and performance of plays.... Symes seamlessly melds multiple disciplines, utilizing text analysis as well as drawing upon the historical record to create a unique English-language interpretation of the role and meaning of theater in medieval life.\u003c\/p\u003e - Mihaela Luiza Florescu (Comitatus)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMedieval Arras was a thriving town on the frontier between the kingdom of France and the county of Flanders, and home to Europe's earliest surviving vernacular plays: \u003ci\u003eThe Play of St. Nicholas\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Courtly Lad of Arras\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Boy and the Blind Man\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Play of the Bower\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Play about Robin and about Marion\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eA Common Stage\u003c\/i\u003e, Carol Symes undertakes a cultural archeology of these artifacts, analyzing the processes by which a handful of entertainments were conceived, transmitted, received, and recorded during the thirteenth century. She then places the resulting scripts alongside other documented performances with which plays shared a common space and vocabulary: the crying of news, publication of law, preaching of sermons, telling of stories, celebration of liturgies, and arrangement of civic spectacles. She thereby shows how groups and individuals gained access to various means of publicity, participated in public life, and shaped public opinion. And she reveals that the theater of the Middle Ages was not merely a mirror of society but a social and political sphere, a vital site for the exchange of information and ideas, and a vibrant medium for debate, deliberation, and dispute.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe result is a book that closes the gap between the scattered textual remnants of medieval drama and the culture of performance from which that drama emerged. \u003ci\u003eA Common Stage\u003c\/i\u003e thus challenges the prevalent understanding of theater history while offering the first comprehensive history of a community often credited with the invention of French as a powerful literary language.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52541609738520,"sku":"9780801445811","price":46.89,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/a-common-stage-theater-and-public-life-in-medieval-arras-hardback-9780801445811","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}