Companion to the Medieval Theatre

Vince has provided a useful and, for the most part, usable reference work. His introduction should be required reading for anyone approaching medieval theater. ChoiceScholars increasingly see medieval theatre as a complex and vital performance medium related more closely to political, religious, and social life than to literature as we know it. Reflecting the current interest in performance, A Companion to the Medieval Theatre presents 250 alphabetically arranged entries offering a panoramic view of European and British theatrical productions between the years 900 and 1550. The volume features 30 essays contributed by an international group of specialists and includes many shorter entries as well as systematic cross-referencing, a chronology, a bibliography, and a full complement of indexes.Major entries focus on the theatres of the principal linguistic areas (the British Isles, France, Germany, Iberia, Italy, Scandinavia, the Low Countries, and Eastern Europe), and on dramatic forms and genres such as liturgical drama, Passion and saint plays, morality plays, folk drama, and Humanist drama. Other articles examine costume, acting, pageantry, and music, and explore the theatrical dimension of courtly entertainment, the dance, and the tournament. Short entries supply information on over one hundred playwrights, directors, actors and antiquarians whose contributions to the theatre have been documented. This informative guide brings new depth to our appreciation of the richness and color of medieval public entertainments and the symbolism and pageantry that were a part of daily life in the Middle Ages. Designed to appeal to general reader, this volume is also an attractive choice for libraries serving students and scholars of theatre history, English and European literatures, medieval history, cultural history, drama, and performance.

?. . . A Companion to the Medieval Theatre successfully celebrates (and thereby elevates) the significance of this theater, which spanned more than 600 years and manifested itself in many countries, languages, and genres. Procession and spectacle, emblematic costume and decor, place-and-scaffolding staging; the Assumption play, eclogue, farce, mumming, and interlude; the liturgical drama, the Passion play, the saint play, and the morality play; folk drama, courtly entertainments, and tournament; secular and humanist drama--all are important to the world of medieval theater so thoroughly explored in this invaluable reference companion.?-ARBA, ?Performance, ' Ronald Vince remarks in his preface, is the key to the medieval theatre.' This new reference work uses that key to unlock dusty records and texts and reveal the glittering pageantry in which medieval society reveled. The thirty contributing scholars document dramatic and quasi-dramatic performances in Britain and Europe from approximately 900 to 1550 with the object of clarifying the theatrical context. The emphasis throughout is on stagings, audiences, authors, locations, and occasions. Whenever possible, references to modern productions and recordings support the hypotheses of scholars attempting to reconstruct the conditions of medieval theatre. Buttressing the alphabetically listed entries are an extensive chronology for rapid historical orientation, a selected bibliography, and four separate indexes for ease of reference to persons, places, plays, and subjects. The short introduction maps out the areas of theatrical activity which the entries explore. . . . An enriched understanding has also been the goal of A Companion to the Medieval Theatre. In that, it succeeds admirably.?-Shakespeare Yearbook, ?This companion is divided into three parts, opening with a chronology extending from 200 to 1780 that exceeds the temporal limits of the rest of the book. Its detail is appreciable. . . . The companion itself follows; the third part combines a bibliography and indexes of persons, places, plays, and subjects. . . . Vince has provided a useful and, for the most part, usable reference work. His introduction should be required reading for anyone approaching medieval theater.?-Choice, ." . . A Companion to the Medieval Theatre successfully celebrates (and thereby elevates) the significance of this theater, which spanned more than 600 years and manifested itself in many countries, languages, and genres. Procession and spectacle, emblematic costume and decor, place-and-scaffolding staging; the Assumption play, eclogue, farce, mumming, and interlude; the liturgical drama, the Passion play, the saint play, and the morality play; folk drama, courtly entertainments, and tournament; secular and humanist drama--all are important to the world of medieval theater so thoroughly explored in this invaluable reference companion."-ARBA, "Performance, ' Ronald Vince remarks in his preface, is the key to the medieval theatre.' This new reference work uses that key to unlock dusty records and texts and reveal the glittering pageantry in which medieval society reveled. The thirty contributing scholars document dramatic and quasi-dramatic performances in Britain and Europe from approximately 900 to 1550 with the object of clarifying the theatrical context. The emphasis throughout is on stagings, audiences, authors, locations, and occasions. Whenever possible, references to modern productions and recordings support the hypotheses of scholars attempting to reconstruct the conditions of medieval theatre. Buttressing the alphabetically listed entries are an extensive chronology for rapid historical orientation, a selected bibliography, and four separate indexes for ease of reference to persons, places, plays, and subjects. The short introduction maps out the areas of theatrical activity which the entries explore. . . . An enriched understanding has also been the goal of A Companion to the Medieval Theatre. In that, it succeeds admirably."-Shakespeare Yearbook

RONALD W. VINCE, Professor of English at McMaster University, has published numerous studies and contributed chapters and journal articles on topics in theatre and drama. Among his books are Ancient and Medieval Theatre, Renaissance Theatre, and Neoclassical Theater (Greenwood Press, 1984, 1984, 1988).