1st Edition

Elizabethan Popular Theatre Plays in Performance

By Michael Hattaway Copyright 1982
    258 Pages
    by Routledge

    246 Pages
    by Routledge

    Elizabethan Popular Theatre surveys the Golden Age of English popular theatre: the 1590s, the age of Marlowe and the young Shakespeare. The book describes the staging practices, performance conditions and acting techniques of the period, focusing on five popular dramas: The Spanish Tragedy, Mucedorus, Edward II, Doctor Faustus and Titus Andronicus, as well as providing a comprehensive history of a variety of contemporary playhouse stages, performances, and players.

    Part 1 1. Playhouses and stages 2. Performances 3. Players and playing Part 2 4. The Spanish Tragedy: architectonic design 5. Mucedorus: the exploitation of convention 6. Edward II: dramatic documentary 7. Doctor Faustus: ritual shows Titus Andronicus: strange images of death

    Biography

    Michael Hattaway

    'Michael Hattaway has one of the prerequisites of a teacher in Shakespeare he is able to talk to his readers with clarity as well as erudition.' - R G Marriott, The Stage

    ' wide-ranging critically alert and consistently responsive to the possibilities of performance, Elizabethan Popular Theatre is the best introductory account Hattaway is never less than stimulating.' - John Kerrigan, London Review of Books.

    'A compact introduction to the subject will be of great interest to all students of Elizabethan literature, but especially to those studying the drama of the period.' - Philip S Cook, British Book News.