Early Cambridge Theatres: College, University and Town Stages, 1464–1720
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 8/25/1994
EAN 9780521431774, ISBN10: 0521431778
Hardcover, 210 pages, 24.4 x 17 x 1.3 cm
Language: English
The excavations of the Rose and the Globe theatres have created a context for the study and reconstruction of the English Renaissance theatre. This book engages with this debate by attempting a reconstruction of early Cambridge theatres in the context of the professional theatres of Renaissance London. Cambridge provides a rich source of material: most of the college halls and chapels in which scaffold-theatres were constructed still stand, while records of the Cambridge theatres and the plays performed in them survive in abundance. The book includes a full survey of some dozen Cambridge colleges, the university's commencement stage, and extra-mural theatrical sites used by travelling professional companies, which lead to useful comparisons with the theatres of London. The author concludes with a plea for greater attention to documentary evidence in reconstructing the English Renaissance theatre.
List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Note on sources
1. Introduction
London to Cambridge
2. Queens' College
3. Trinity College from 1605
4. Other colleges
5. The university commencement stage, 1464–1720
6. Secular playing sites
7. Cambridge staging practices
8. Postscript
Cambridge to London
Appendices
Notes
Select bibliography
Index.