The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Historiography

A 'how to' guide for students and teachers of theatre history, covering archival research, developing historical descriptions and writing reports.

Thomas Postlewait (Author)

9780521495707, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 April 2009

360 pages, 18 b/w illus.
23.4 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.69 kg

This Introduction - an indispensable 'how to' guide for students and teachers alike - investigates the methods and aims of historical study in the performing arts, from archival research to historical writing. Beginning with case studies on Shakespearean theatre and avant-garde theatre, this study examines fundamental procedures and problems in documentary history and cultural history. It demonstrates how historians not only construct various kinds of performance events but also place them in relation to the historical agents, the political and social conditions, artistic traditions, audience responses, and historical periods. Drawing upon scholarship in classics, literary studies, art history, performance studies, and general history, Postlewait shows how to ask appropriate historical questions, construct evidence, use plays as historical documents, eliminate faulty sources, challenge unreliable witnesses, and develop historical arguments and narratives. The book concludes with a survey of the 'twelve cruxes' of research, analysis, and writing in theatre history.

Introduction: on some preliminary matters
Part I. Documentary History vs Cultural History: Two Case Studies: 1. Documentary histories: the case of Shakespeare's Globe theatre
2. Cultural histories: the case of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi
Part II. Historical vs Theatrical Events: 3. The historical event
4. The theatrical event
Part III. Placing Events within their Contexts: 5. The criteria for periodization in theatre history: definitive categories for events
6. The idea of the 'political' in our histories of theatre: causal contexts for events
Part IV. Summing Up: 7. The theatrical event and its conditions: a primer with twelve cruxes.

Subject Areas: Literary theory [DSA], Theatre studies [AN]