The Cambridge Introduction to Early English Theatre

An accessible introduction to early English theatre, from the late medieval period to 1642.

Janette Dillon (Author)

9780521834742, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 June 2006

312 pages, 23 b/w illus. 4 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.59 kg

'With intelligent organisation, cogent case studies and easy-access quotation boxes, Janette Dillon cooly serves up a very useful introduction to over 300 years of English drama …' Plays International

This introduction offers an overview of early English theatre from the earliest recorded vernacular texts in the late medieval period to the closing of the theatres in 1642. Where most existing studies focus on one side or the other of an imaginary boundary between 'medieval' and 'early modern' or 'Renaissance' drama, this book examines the theatre of nearly three centuries in a way that highlights continuities as well as divisions. The study is organised into five subject-based chapters: Place and space; Actors and audiences; Writers, controllers and critics; Genre and tradition; Instruction and spectacle. It includes full chronologies, helpful text boxes and over twenty illustrations.

1. Places of performance
2. Actors and audiences
3. Writers, controllers and the place of theatre
4. Genre and tradition
5. Instruction and spectacle
Appendix 1. Select chronology of plays and other performances
Appendix 2. Chronology of events
Appendix 3. Dimensions of playing spaces
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]