The Cambridge Introduction to Early English Theatre

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, 2006 M06 12 - 296 pages
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.

From inside the book

Selected pages

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2006)

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

Bibliographic information