The development of Shakespeare's theater

the long version

The remarkable flowering of the English Renaissance theater began in the late 158Os, but it was preceded by a long period which saw the founding of an acting profession and the building of permanent playhouses. The establishment and development of theatrical culture--actors, stages, and theater buildings--so crucial to the emergence of mature drama, form the subject of this book. The nine contributors address various aspects of the history of the Tudor and Stuart stage, particularly in the light of recent research, and from new scholarly perspectives. The subjects covered include the survival of companies of actors, the temporary playing conditions which provided "the most enduring and widespread theater" throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the design of London playhouses and their stages, and the uses to which they were put by dramatists and actors in staging plays.