Product Description

Civic theatre - drama and pageantry sponsored by city and town governing bodies - is prominent in histories of early English provincial drama but has been largely ignored for pre-Elizabethan London. Anne Lancashire explodes the widely held notion that significant London theatre arose only in the age of Shakespeare, when the first commercial playhouses were built there. She outlines the extent and types of early civic theatrical performance, specifically in London, from Roman times to Elizabeth I’s accession to the throne in 1558, focusing on Roman amphitheatre shows, medieval and early Tudor plays, mummings, royal entries, and other kinds of street pageantry. With evidence from a multitude of primary sources and extensive use of early chronicle histories, the book raises questions about this urban, largely political theatre which provided an important foundation for the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1438014 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 376 pages

Review
Review of the hardback: ‘… a major, eye-opening book about London theatre before Shakespeare, written by the scholar who knows the subject from the ground to the top.’ Scott McMillin

Review of the hardback: ‘A work of awe-inspiring scholarship covering 1500 years of civic theater in London. [It] will undoubtedly become standard reference material for anyone interested in the field …This book is a monumental achievement.’ Studies in English Literature

Review of the hardback: ‘This book should be required reading for all scholars and teachers of drama and theatre, not only because it establishes many of the facts (and corrects many of the fictions) about theatre in London before 1558, but also because it demonstrates the extent to which Medieval theatre in general was a civic activity …’ English Studies in Canada

About the Author
Anne Lancashire is Professor of English at the University of Toronto. She has edited the texts of John Lyly's Gallathea and Midas, of The Second Maiden's Tragedy (attributed to Thomas Middleton), and of Clifford Leech's Christopher Marlowe: Poet for the Stage, and has published numerous articles and essays, and given many conference papers and public lectures on medieval and early modern theatre and drama.