The Cambridge History of British Theatre, Volume 1

Front Cover
Jane Milling, Peter Thomson, Joseph Walter Donohue (Jr.)
Cambridge University Press, Nov 23, 2004 - Drama - 572 pages
Volume One of The Cambridge History of British Theatre begins in Roman Britain and ends with Charles II's restoration to the throne imminent. The four essays in Part One treat pre-Elizabethan theatre, the eight in Part Two focus on the riches of the Elizabethan era, and the seven in Part Three on theatrical developments during and after the reigns of James I and Charles I. The essays are written for the general reader by leading British and American scholars, who combine an interest in the written drama with an understanding of the material conditions of the evolving professional theatre which the drama helped to sustain, often enough against formidable odds. The volume unfolds a story of enterprise, innovation and, sometimes, of desperate survival over years in which theatre and drama were necessarily embroiled in the politics of everyday life: a vivid subject vividly presented.

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Contents

From Roman to Renaissance in drama and theatre
3
Faith pastime performance and drama in Scotland to 1603
70
The Bible as play in Reformation England
87
continuity and change
116
The development of a professional theatre 15401660
139
An example of courtesy and liberality great households
200
The birth of an industry
224
Theatre and controversy 15721603
242
London professional playhouses and performances
298
PART III
339
Theatre and controversy 16031642
364
stages in the evolution of acting
407
a case study
424
The condition of the theatres in 1642
439
Theatre and Commonwealth
458
Works cited
477

Io The condition of theatre in England in 1599
264
a case study
282

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About the author (2004)

Jane Milling is Lecturer in Drama at the University of Exeter. She has written on Restoration performers and female dramatists. Her work in the modern period includes co-authorship with Graham Ley of Modern Theories of Performance: From Stanislavski to Boal (2001). Peter Thomson is Emeritus Professor of Drama at the University of Exeter. His books include Shakespeare's Theatre (1992), Mother Courage and Her Children (1997), Shakespeare's Professional Career (Cambridge University Press, 1999) and On Actors and Acting (2000).