These 25 essays by leading theorists and historians chart a paradigmatic shift within the study of pre-17th-century English drama. In contrast to the traditional emphasis on individual authors, the contributors here explore the place of the stage within the larger society, as well as issues of performance and physical space. The essays are organized into three sections: "Early English Drama and Physical Space" examines the settings in which the plays are acted; "Early English Drama and Social Space" juxtaposes the theatre with such contemporary subcultures as the church, the city and the court; and "Early English Drama and Conditions of Performance and Publication" explores a range of material conditions and contexts, from props to printers. A summary of contemporary scholarship and a storehouse of new theoretical information, this work illustrates the complex influence of physical and social elements woven into the texts, and provides an innovative approach to literary studies and cultural history.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
It is a book that every serious student of early English drama will want to own. -- Alan Somerset
Splendidly redefines the whole field of early modern drama. Its individual essays are both definitive accounts of the state of knowledge today and striking provocations to further thought-and in combination they provide the most inclusive, innovative, and important overview of the drama that we have had to date. -- Peter Stallybrass University of Pennsylvania
The twenty six essays in this valuable and much-needed work focus particularly on the social and material implications of performance spaces from street to court; the ways in which religious, civic, domestic, courtly, literary, and popular expectations affected the drama [prior to 1642]; and the conditions under which plays were produced and disseminated. The collection provides an accurate and authoritative overview of the early English drama, embeds it in the historical conditions of its production, and suggests directions for future study. The bibliography, index, and play index all cover the entire book, so that one can easily locate a topic wherever it appears. -- Choice
Splendidly redefines the whole field of early modern drama. Its individual essays are both definitive accounts of the state of knowledge today and striking provocations to further thought-and in combination they provide the most inclusive, innovative, and important overview of the drama that we have had to date. -- Peter Stallybrass University of Pennsylvania
The twenty six essays in this valuable and much-needed work focus particularly on the social and material implications of performance spaces from street to court; the ways in which religious, civic, domestic, courtly, literary, and popular expectations affected the drama [prior to 1642]; and the conditions under which plays were produced and disseminated. The collection provides an accurate and authoritative overview of the early English drama, embeds it in the historical conditions of its production, and suggests directions for future study. The bibliography, index, and play index all cover the entire book, so that one can easily locate a topic wherever it appears. -- Choice
Review
Splendidly redefines the whole field of early modern drama. Its individual essays are both definitive accounts of the state of knowledge today and striking provocations to further thought-and in combination they provide the most inclusive, innovative, and important overview of the drama that we have had to date.
(Peter Stallybrass, University of Pennsylvania ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A mixed bag,
By Q (Q Continuum) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A New History of Early English Drama (Paperback)
In this collection of essays each author strives to give a "new" or revisionist account of his or her subject matter. As with most essay collections, the results range from the sublime to the ridiculous. There are some valuable essays here, notably Peter Blayney's essay on "The Publication of Playbooks," which should be required reading for all teachers of Shakespeare. Blayney corrects the notions (1) that acting companies resisted the publication of their plays, (2) that the plays were "stolen" by sundry rogues and scoundrels, and (3) published at great profit. On the contrary, the acting companies, including Shakespeare, willingly sold scripts to publishers--for publicity--and there was precious little money to be made in publishing these playbooks, which mostly lost money, with a few exceptions. Other valuable essays include "Theater and Religious Culture" by Paul Whitfield White, "The Theater and Literary Culture" by Barbara Mowat, "Censorship" by Richard Dutton, "The Revision of Scripts" by Eric Rasmussen, and "The Repertory" by Roslyn Knutson. Most of the other essays will be of interest to micro-specialists only. There is also one very silly essay on "Playwriting" by Jeffrey Masten, in which we learn that "seventeenth-century authors did not exist" (369)--which is actually a metaphysical statement of faith in the dogma of poststructuralism, and not an argument. I would recommend getting this book from the library and reading the essays of interest to you.
7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic,
By veronike preusz (Paris) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A New History of Early English Drama (Paperback)
Could be titled "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know." This is unquestionably the best book about Renaissance Drama ever put together: authoritative essays, brilliantly organized, in a book that changes the shape of the field--hopefully forever.
8 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
more "new" than "history",
By A Customer
This review is from: A New History of Early English Drama (Paperback)
This is an important volume, if for no other reason than that it will--for better or worse--undoubtedly become the standard history of early English drama. However, the volume's slavish devotion to postmodernist sensibilities underlie the majority of material and make for a few terribly skewed pieces. Did you know, for example, that early modern playwrights very seldom actually wrote their plays? This volume assures us that the plays instead usually emerged through the semi-mystical process of "collaboration" that has become a buzz-word for postmodernist critics. Most of those apparently thematically unified and rhetorically tight Renaissance plays were actually the result of various pens and voices chiming in with whatever they felt was appropriate. Terribly impressive.If you are a student or devotee of early English drama, you need to have this book on your shelf if for no other reason than that you will be referred to its articles time and again in subsequent scholarship. You are almost obligated to read them. Fortunately, you are not obligated to be convinced by them.
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