This book interprets Renaissance plays, chiefly Shakespearean, through the medium of the theater. From the staging of Macbeth at the Globe in 1606, through productions of The Duchess of Malfi in the twentieth century, to principles of theatrical criticism, it examines the play from the viewpoints of playwright, actor, director, audience, and critic. It represents the recent shift in dramatic criticism from the literary analysis of the text to the assessment of the play in performance. Although the study of dramatic productions here has historical and comparative aspects, the emphasis is on enduring problems and solutions. The contributors are distinguished scholars, critics, and theater people from both sides of the Atlantic. Their essays are a tribute to the pioneering work of Arthur Colby Sprague, the leading authority on Shakespeare in the theater. Their theme has been summed up by a prepublication reviewer as "what A.C. Sprague stands for, bringing the testimony of actual production to bear on the understanding of a playwright's vision."Following an introduction by the editor, the book's sixteen essays are presented in four parts: The Playwright and Audience, The Playwright and Performance, and the Playwright and Theatre. Students of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as the reader interested in drama and theater, will find here an interesting range and depth of interpretation.
- ISBN10 0271011777
- ISBN13 9780271011776
- Publish Date 8 November 1990
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 4 December 1992
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Pennsylvania State University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 352
- Language English