The Shakespeare Company, 1594–1642

The first complete history of the theatre company in which Shakespeare acted and which staged all of his plays.

Andrew Gurr (Author)

9780521172455, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 23 September 2010

356 pages, 25 b/w illus. 2 maps 7 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.48 kg

'Gurr doesn't explicitly say that the 'company versions' are better than that habitual overwriter Shakespeare's maximal versions. But the stakes in the argument are high – our vision of what we value most in Shakespeare, why we value it, and the notion of value itself. And so, in addition to being grateful to Gurr for the wealth of historical detail of Shakespeare's company, we are in debt to him for provoking anew this important argument.' The Wilson Quarterly

This is the first complete history of the theatre company, created in 1594, which in 1603 became the King's Men. Shakespeare was at the heart of the team of players, who with their successors ran an operation that lasted until the theatres closed in 1642. During those forty-eight years they staged all of Shakespeare's plays, a number of Ben Jonson's, those of Thomas Middleton and John Webster, and almost all of the Beaumont and Fletcher canon. Andrew Gurr provides a comprehensive history of the company's activities. A chapter on their finances explains the unique management system they adopted and two chapters study the fashions in their repertory and the complex relationships with their royal patrons. The 6 appendixes identify the 99 players who worked in the company and the 168 plays they are known to have owned and performed, as well as the key documents from the company's history.

Preface
1. The plan of 1594
2. The company's work
3. 'Will money buy 'em?': company finances
4. 'Workes are playes': the public repertory
5. Royal loyalties
6. The afterlife
Appendix 1. The players
Appendix 2. Documents about the company
Appendix 3. The sharers' papers
Appendix 4. The repertory
Appendix 5. Surviving play-texts
Appendix 6. Court performances
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Shakespeare studies & criticism [DSGS], Theatre studies [AN]