Shakespeare in the Theatre: The King's Men

(Hardback)

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Description

Created when James I granted royal patronage to the former Chamberlains Men in 1603, the Kings Men were the first playing company to exercise a transformative influence on Shakespeares plays. Not only did Shakespeare write his plays with them in mind, but they were also the first group to revive his plays, and the first to have them revised, either by Shakespeare himself or by other dramatists after his retirement. Drawing on theatre history, performance studies, cultural history and book history, Shakespeare in the Theatre: The Kings Men reappraises the company as theatre artists, analysing in detail the performance practices, cultural contexts and political pressures that helped to shape and reshape Shakespeares plays between 1603 and 1642. Reconsidering casting and acting styles, staging and playing venues, audience response, influence and popularity, and local, national and international politics, the book presents case-studies of performances of Macbeth, The Tempest, The Winters Tale, Richard II, Henry VIII, Othello and Pericles alongside a broader reappraisal of the repertory of the company and the place of Shakespeares plays within it.

Reviews

An outstanding account of the history of the company which actually helped to create Shakespeare [the books] careful analysis of the available evidence as well as its broader commentary on the practices and decisions which sustained the companys fortunes are to be applauded. * The Review of English Studies *
An incisive, engaging, imaginative, and accessible book that deserves a place on the bookshelves and reading lists of all Shakespeare scholars [a] lucid study which manages the rare feat of offering a clear and detailed introduction to a historically significant topic while also breaking new ground in its analysis and approach. * Early Theatre *
Munros meticulous archival research has allowed her to piece together an often conjectural but fascinating account of the Kings Men It is as much Munros delicious turn of phrase as the detail she excavates from her reading that brings to life these long-forgotten players. * Shakespeare Survey *

Author Bio

Lucy Munro is a lecturer in Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at Kings College London, UK. She is the author of Children of the Queens Revels: A Jacobean Theatre Repertory and Archaic Style in English Literature, 1590-1674.