Rehearsal from Shakespeare to Sheridan [Hardcover]

Tiffany Stern (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198186819 | ISBN-13: 978-0198186816 | Publication Date: July 27, 2000

Attention is often given to the performance of a text, but not to the shaping process behind that performance. The question of rehearsal is seldom confronted directly, though important textual moments - like revision - are often attributed to it. Furthermore, up until now, facts about theatrical rehearsal have been considered irrecoverable.

In this groundbreaking new study, Tiffany Stern gathers together two centuries' worth of historical material which shows how actors received and responded to their parts, and how rehearsal affected the creation and revision of plays. This is the first history of the subject, from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth. It examines the nature and changing content of rehearsal, drawing on a mass of autobiographical, textual, and journalistic sources, and in so doing throws new light on textual revision and transforms accepted notions of Renaissance, Restoration, and eighteenth-century theatrical practice. Plotting theatrical change over time, this book will revolutionize the fields of textual and theatre history alike.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book, the first on the subject, is both timely and valuable for stage historians and performance critics ... Stern offers synthesis and stimulating reinterpretation"--Sixteenth Century Journal

"It deserves to become a long-lived reference work.... This is a mature book, one based on a reassuringly large and diverse body of evidence, moving from Shakespeare's to Garrick's theatre with no sense of strain, and elegantly written throughout, with several good new stories for connoisseurs of theatrical anecdote.... Its wide range makes it of especial use for Restoration and eighteenth-century material."--Alison Shell, Times Literary Supplement

"This book, the first on the subject, is both timely and valuable for stage historians and performance critics ... Stern offers synthesis and stimulating reinterpretation"--Sixteenth Century Journal

"It deserves to become a long-lived reference work.... This is a mature book, one based on a reassuringly large and diverse body of evidence, moving from Shakespeare's to Garrick's theatre with no sense of strain, and elegantly written throughout, with several good new stories for connoisseurs of theatrical anecdote.... Its wide range makes it of especial use for Restoration and eighteenth-century material."--Alison Shell, Times Literary Supplement

"Stern's remarkable volume transforms our understanding of the construction and production of early modern English theatrical texts and the importance of considering the role of theatrical practice in creating the works of different historical periods of English drama...Rehearsal from Shakespeare to Sheridan is likely to become indispensable
for any serious student of English theatrical history." --Eighteenth-Century Studies

About the Author

Tiffany Stern is at Merton College, University of Oxford.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198186819
• ISBN-13: 978-0198186816
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,095,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare's players come to life, January 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Rehearsal from Shakespeare to Sheridan (Hardcover)

Tiffany Stern's groundbreaking book will revolutionise your view of Shakespeare in a fascinating discussion of day to day life in the theatre. Read how actors had copies only of their own parts - many didn't know the story of the whole play until performance. Learn about ad libbing clowns and heroines who fall in love, literally, on cue. The Shakespearean sections combine ingenious archival research (from coal bills to prompt books) with sensitive textual analysis. The Restoration and seventeenth century sections are alive with comic anecdote and original insight, not to mention Garrick's mechanical wig. This book will change your perceptions of drama in the past, but will also raise questions about theatrical practice today. Invaluable to all who love the theatre.

5.0 out of 5 stars Tiffany Sterns, one of the great young Shakespeare scholars and researchers, March 6, 2008

By 

Charles Salembier - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rehearsal from Shakespeare to Sheridan (Hardcover)

An important part of appreciating (and teaching) plays from the Renaissance period involves understanding the relationship between the poet and the acting company, and the extent to which rehearsal practices of the period placed a large burden on the poet to include acting instructions within the play's text.

Drawing clues from a broad array of sources, Professor Stern provides a detailed look at rehearsal practices from the late sixteenth century and onward.

Especially as regards Shakespeare, understanding the very limited rehearsal time, especially when compared to modern day practices, employed by companies that put on essentially a different play every afternoon, offers a valuable new insight into the importance of rhetorical and metrical structure as well as many kinds of imbedded stage directions.

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Information for teachers of Literature, January 18, 2008

By 

Gypsybooboo "Gyps" (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rehearsal from Shakespeare to Sheridan (Paperback)

Tiffany Stern's book offers revelations about the theater based on her extensive research into the rehearsal processes of each period. Her writing is also accessible for those who may not love lit. crit. speak.