Created when James I granted royal patronage to the former Chamberlain's Men in 1603, the King's Men were the first playing company to exercise a transformative influence on Shakespeare's plays. Not only did Shakespeare write his plays with them in mind, but they were also the first group to revive his plays, and the first to have them revised, either by Shakespeare himself or by other dramatists after his retirement. Drawing on theatre history, performance studies, cultural history and book history, Shakespeare in the Theatre: The King's Men reappraises the company as theatre artists, analysing in detail the performance practices, cultural contexts and political pressures that helped to shape and reshape Shakespeare's plays between 1603 and 1642. Reconsidering casting and acting styles, staging and playing venues, audience response, influence and popularity, and local, national and international politics, the book presents case-studies of performances of Macbeth, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, Richard II, Henry VIII, Othello and Pericles alongside a broader reappraisal of the repertory of the company and the place of Shakespeare's plays within it.
Created when James I granted royal patronage to the former Chamberlain's Men in 1603, the King's Men were the first playing company to exercise a transformative influence on Shakespeare's plays. Not only did Shakespeare write his plays with them in mind, but they were also the first group to revive his plays, and the first to have them revised, either by Shakespeare himself or by other dramatists after his retirement. Drawing on theatre history, performance studies, cultural history and book history, Shakespeare in the Theatre: The King's Men reappraises the company as theatre artists, analysing in detail the performance practices, cultural contexts and political pressures that helped to shape and reshape Shakespeare's plays between 1603 and 1642. Reconsidering casting and acting styles, staging and playing venues, audience response, influence and popularity, and local, national and international politics, the book presents case-studies of performances of Macbeth, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, Richard II, Henry VIII, Othello and Pericles alongside a broader reappraisal of the repertory of the company and the place of Shakespeare's plays within it.
Introduction: Playing the Court, 1604-5;
Chapter 1: Actors and Roles;
Interlude: Playing the Court, 1612-13;
Chapter 2: Your Dear Delight: Shakespeare and the Merry Devil;
Interlude: Playing the Court, 1622-5;
Chapter 3: Richard II, Henry VIII and the Politics of Playing;
Interlude: Playing the Court, 1633-4;
Chapter 4: Othello and The Alchemist at Oxford and Beyond;
Interlude: Playing the Court, 1636-7;
Chapter 5: Pericles and Playgoing;
Coda: Shakespeare and the King’s Men, 1642-1662;
Select Bibliography;
Notes;
Index
An introduction to and reappraisal of the King’s Men, the first company to perform and revive some of Shakespeare’s most important plays.
Lucy Munro is a lecturer in Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at King’s College London, UK. She is the author of Children of the Queen’s Revels: A Jacobean Theatre Repertory and Archaic Style in English Literature, 1590-1674.
An outstanding account of the history of the company which actually
helped to create Shakespeare … [the book’s] careful analysis of the
available evidence as well as its broader commentary on the
practices and decisions which sustained the company’s fortunes are
to be applauded.
*The Review of English Studies*
An incisive, engaging, imaginative, and accessible book that
deserves a place on the bookshelves and reading lists of all
Shakespeare scholars … [a] lucid study which manages the rare feat
of offering a clear and detailed introduction to a historically
significant topic while also breaking new ground in its analysis
and approach.
*Early Theatre*
Munro’s meticulous archival research has allowed her to piece
together an often conjectural but fascinating account of the King’s
Men … It is as much Munro’s delicious turn of phrase as the detail
she excavates from her reading that brings to life these
long-forgotten players.
*Shakespeare Survey*
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