Actors and Acting in Shakespeare's Time

John Astington brings the acting style of the Shakespearean period to life, describing and analyzing the art of the player in the English professional theater between Richard Tarlton and Thomas Betterton. The book pays close attention to the cultural context of stage playing, the critical language used about it, and the kinds of training and professional practice employed in the theater at various times over the course of roughly one hundred years - 1558-1660. Perfect for courses, this up-to-date survey takes into account recent discoveries about actors and their social networks, about apprenticeship and company affiliations, and about playing outside the major center of theater, London. Astington considers the educational tradition of playing, in schools, universities, legal inns, and choral communities, in comparison to the work of the professional players. A comprehensive biographical dictionary of all major professional players of the Shakespearean period is included as a handy reference guide.

Author: John H. Astington
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 11/08/2010
Pages: 262
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.93lbs
Size: 8.94h x 6.10w x 0.53d
ISBN: 9780521140775

About the Author
Astington, John H.: - John H. Astington is Professor in the Department of English and the Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama at the University of Toronto. He is the author of English Court Theatre, 1558-1642 (Cambridge University Press, 1999), and has published articles and chapters in many books and journals including The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare, The Cambridge Shakespeare Library, The Oxford Handbook to Early Modern Theatre and The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.