Shakespeare and Lost Plays
Reimagining Drama in Early Modern England

Explores Shakespeare's plays in their most immediate context: the hundreds of plays known to original audiences, but lost to us.

David McInnis (Author)

9781108824156, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 February 2023

238 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.35 kg

'A useful resource for scholars of early modern theater and Shakespeare studies ... Recommended.' K. K. Smith, Choice

Shakespeare and Lost Plays returns Shakespeare's dramatic work to its most immediate and (arguably) pivotal context; by situating it alongside the hundreds of plays known to Shakespeare's original audiences, but lost to us. David McInnis reassesses the value of lost plays in relation to both the companies that originally performed them, and to contemporary scholars of early modern drama. This innovative study revisits key moments in Shakespeare's career and the development of his company and, by prioritising the immense volume of information we now possess about lost plays, provides a richer, more accurate picture of dramatic activity than has hitherto been possible. By considering a variety of ways to grapple with the problem of lost, imperceptible, or ignored texts, this volume presents a methodology for working with lacunae in archival evidence and the distorting effect of Shakespeare-centric narratives, thus reinterpreting our perception of the field of early modern drama.

Introduction
1. Charting the landscape of loss
2. Early Shakespeare: 1594-98
3. Shakespeare at the turn of the century, 1599-1603
4. Courting controversy: Shakespeare and the king's men, 1604-08
5. Late Shakespeare: 1609-13
6. Loose canons: the lost Shakespeare apocrypha
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: poetry & poets [DSC], Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [DSBD], Shakespeare plays [DDS], Poetry [DC]