Why read What Is a Playhouse? England at Play, 1520-1620?

Book cover of What Is a Playhouse? England at Play, 1520-1620

Book description

This book offers an accessible introduction to England's sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century playing industry and a fresh account of the architecture, multiple uses, communities, crowds, and proprietors of playhouses.

It builds on recent scholarship and new documentary and archaeological discoveries to answer the questions: what did playhouses do, what did…

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European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked What Is a Playhouse? England at Play, 1520-1620 as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

David McInnis

Author

Some of the most exciting discoveries in theatre history in recent years have been archaeological, not archival: the excavation of the Curtain theatre’s foundations in Shoreditch, for example, and the revelation that it was rectangular and much larger than previously thought. Davies’ new book capitalises on a series of such findings and complements them with his own rigorous archival work, putting pressure on the very concept of a ‘playhouse’ and what it can be—or rather, what it meant to Shakespeare’s audiences.

From David's list on to understand the history of Shakespeare's theatre.