Description
Book SynopsisThis book reconsiders the evidence for what we know (or think we know) about early modern performance conditions.
This study encourages a new recognition and treatment of certain aspects of the plays as evidence and demonstrates the significance of the implications of that new information. This book is also an assessment of the competing narratives about the processes involved in early modern performance: about the status of manuscript playbooks, about the parts that players memorized, about the functions of the bookkeeper, about casting, about prompting, and about rehearsal practices. Leslie Thomson investigates the bases for the interdependent beliefs that an early modern player relied only on his part to prepare for a performance, that rehearsal was minimal, and that a bookkeeper compensated for these circumstances by prompting any player who was out of his part. By focusing on often ignored (or downplayed) requirements and challenges of early modern play texts, Thomson p
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Pre-Performance
Chapter 1: Evidence and Theories
Chapter 2: Rehearsal Reconsidered
Part II: In-Performance
Chapter 3: Pronouns in Action
Chapter 4: Uncued Actions
Chapter 5: Staging Asides
Chapter 6: Dumb Shows on Stage
Chapter 7: Doubling and Disguise
Chapter 8: Large Properties Off and On Stage
Conclusion
Index
