Cambridge Introduction to Early English Theatre

This introduction offers an overview of early English theatre from the earliest recorded vernacular texts in the late medieval period to the closing of the theatres in 1642. Where most existing studies focus on one side or the other of an imaginary boundary between 'medieval' and 'early modern' or 'Renaissance' drama, this book examines the theatre of nearly three centuries in a way that highlights continuities as well as divisions. The study is organised into five subject-based chapters: Place and space; Actors and audiences; Writers, controllers and critics; Genre and tradition; Instruction and spectacle. It includes full chronologies, helpful text boxes and over twenty illustrations.

'At last, the book early theater historians have been waiting for … Janette Dillon's thoroughly new overview, one that sets the record straight about the nature, scope, cultural meanings, and significance of early performances … This book deserves a spot front and center on the shelf of every scholar of early theater, and it should be in the hands of all serious students and of the general reader as well.' Clare Sponsler, Shakespeare Quarterly, 'Where this volume deserves the attention of drama teachers is the careful way in which it deals with performance spaces, actors and audiences.' The Times Literary Supplement, 'With intelligent organisation, cogent case studies and easy-access quotation boxes, Janette Dillon cooly serves up a very useful introduction to over 300 years of English drama …' Plays International

Janette Dillon is Professor of Drama at the School of English, University of Nottingham.