European Theatre Performance Practice, 1580-1750

This volume presents foundational and representative essays of the last half century on theatre performance practice during the period 1580 to 1750. The particular focus is on the nature of playing spaces, staging, acting and audience response in professional theatre and the selection of previously published research articles and book chapters includes significant works on topics such as Shakespearean staging, French and Spanish theatre audiences, the challenging aspects of the evolution of Italian renaissance acting practice, and the a€?hiddena€? dimensions of performance. The essays provide coherent transnational coverage as well as detailed treatments of their individual topics. Considerations of theatre practice in Italy, Spain and France, as well as England, place Shakespearea€?s theatre in its European context to reveal surprising commonalities and salient differences in the performance practice of early modern Europea€?s major professional theatres. This volume is an indispensable reference work for university libraries, lecturers, researchers and practitioners and offers a coherent overview of early modern comparative performance practice, and a deeper understanding of the fielda€?s major topics and developments.

Robert Henke is Professor of Drama and Comparative Literature at Washington University, USA and M. A. Katritzky is the Barbara Wilkes Research Fellow in Theatre Studies in the English Department of the Open University, UK.