Work on Ben Jonson has long been dominated by the 11-volume Oxford text of his Works , edited by C.H. Herford, Percy Simpson and Evelyn Simpson (1925-52). In this monumental edition, Jonson seems a remote and forbidding figure, an author of formidable learning and literariness. This collection of essays by twelve leading scholars, editors, historians and bibliographers explores ways in which modern understanding of Jonson's texts has undermined the emphasis of the Oxford edition, and generated a Jonson whose Works and career look quite different. Addressing the competing needs of future readers, teachers and performers, it asks how this reconceptualized Jonson might best be transmitted into the next century. The volume also includes a new Jonson text, The Entertainment at Britain's Burse , written in 1609 to celebrate the royal opening of the Earl of Salisbury's commercial development in the Strand. Discovered in 1996, it is the most significant addition to Jonson's canon this century, and is here printed for the first time.

Since the 1920s, an endless flow of studies has analyzed the political systems of fascism, theseizure of power, the nature of the regimes, the atrocities committed, and, finally, the wars waged against other countries. However, much less attention has been paid to the strategies of persuasion employed by the regimes to win over the masses for their cause. Among these, fascist propaganda has traditionally been seen as the key means of influencing public opinion. Only recently has the "fascination with Fascism" become a topic of enquiry that has also formed the guiding interest of this volume: it offers, for the first time, a comparative analysis of the forms and functions of theater in countries governed by fascist or para-fascist regimes. By examining a wide spectrum of theatrical manifestations in a number of States with a varying degree of fascistization, these studies establish some of the similarities and differences between the theatrical cultures of several cultures in the interwar period.

This book explores the changing representation on the early modern stage of the built environment of London. It covers a period in which the city underwent rapid growth to become the country's first metropolis, and it examines how the urban environment becomes part of the frame of reference of the drama that is set there.

ANTONIO. In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. It wearies me; you say it wearies you; But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; And such a want-wit sadness makes of me That I have much ado to know myself. SALERIO. Your mind is tossing on the ocean; There where your argosies, with portly sail- Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood, Or as it were the pageants of the sea- Do overpeer the petty traffickers, That curtsy to them, do them reverence, As they fly by them with their woven wings.

Women's Theatre Writing in Victorian Britain is the first book to make a comprehensive study of women playwrights in the British theatre from 1820 to 1918. It looks at how women playwrights negotiated their personal and professional identities as writers, and examines the female tradition of playwriting which dramatises the central experience of women's lives around the themes of home, the nation, and the position of women in marriage and the family. The book also includes an extensive Appendix of authors and plays, which will be a useful reference tool for students and scholars in nineteenth-century studies and theatre historians.

Packed full of analysis and interpretation, historical background, discussions and commentaries, York Notes will help you get right to the heart of the text you're studying, whether it's poetry, a play or a novel. You'll learn all about the historical context of the piece; find detailed discussions of key passages and characters; learn interesting facts about the text; and discover structures, patterns and themes that you may never have known existed. In the Advanced Notes, specific sections on critical thinking, and advice on how to read critically yourself, enable you to engage with the text in new and different ways. Full glossaries, self-test questions and suggested reading lists will help you fully prepare for your exam, while internet links and references to film, TV, theatre and the arts combine to fully immerse you in your chosen text. York Notes offer an exciting and accessible key to your text, enabling you to develop your ideas and transform your studies!

This "Companion" illustrates the vitality and diversity of dramatic work between 1660 and 1710. Twenty-five essays by leading scholars in the field bring together the best recent insights into the full range of dramatic practice and innovation at the time. Contributors examine well known genres such as Restoration sex comedy in a new light, and explore other genres such as heroic plays, satirical comedy, sentimental 'she-tragedy', tragi-comedy and political tragedy. The three sections of the volume address the diverse aspects of Restoration Drama. The first situates the drama in its theatrical and social contexts and examines changing responses to Restoration drama from the eighteenth century to date, the second explores the wide range of dramatic genres, and the final section offers an introduction to the playwrights, including the first women dramatists. Coverage of the best known dramatists is balanced by attention to lesser known authors and plays.

Political theatre has re-emerged strongly since 1995, to articulate changed issues, alignments and definitions of politics and power in Britain. New work by both young and established dramatists contests the post-Thatcher mood of disengagement, creating exciting debates about the power and responsibility of individuals, defining characteristics and issues of the nation, the interaction of cultural collectives with the nation as a whole, and Britain's relationship with other nations in the world.

Literary historians have long held the view that the plays of the Greek dramatist, Sophocles deal purely with archetypes of the heroic past and that any resemblance to contemporary events or individuals is purely coincidental. In this book, Michael Vickers challenges this view and argues that Sophocles makes regular and extensive allusion to Athenian politics in his plays, especially to Alcibiades, one of the most controversial Athenian politicians of his day.Vickers shows that Sophocles was no closeted intellectual but a man deeply involved in politics and he reminds us that Athenian politics was intensely personal. He argues cogently that classical writers employed hidden meanings and that consciously or sub-consciously, Sophocles was projecting onto his plays hints of contemporary events or incidents, mostly of a political nature, hoping that his audience's passion for politics would enhance the popularity of his plays. Vickers strengthens his case about Sophocles by discussing other authors - Thucydides, Plato and Euripides - in whom he also demonstrates a body of allusions to Alcibiades and others.

The eponymous alchemist of Ben Jonson's quick-fire comedy is a fraud: he cannot make gold, but he does make brilliant theatre. "The Alchemist "is a masterpiece of wit and form about the self-delusions of greed and the theatricality of deception. This guide will be useful to a diverse assembly of students and scholars, offering fresh new ways into this challenging and fascinating play.

DUKE. Escalus! ESCALUS. My lord. DUKE. Of government the properties to unfold Would seem in me t' affect speech and discourse, Since I am put to know that your own science Exceeds, in that, the lists of all advice My strength can give you; then no more remains But that to your sufficiency- as your worth is able- And let them work. The nature of our people, Our city's institutions, and the terms For common justice, y'are as pregnant in As art and practice hath enriched any That we remember. There is our commission, From which we would not have you warp. Call hither, I say, bid come before us, Angelo.

Contemporary Irish drama communicates not only through words but also through the non-verbal use of space - both the geographical places in which plays are set and the ways stage space is used. The work of cultural and physical geographers, brought to bear on plays by Friel, McPherson, Carr, and McGuinness, illuminates the extent to which perceptions of themes and characters are determined by the plays' uses of space. The plays shape reactions to issues of belonging and not belonging, home and homeland, by locating characters in specific places and by establishing stage spaces that inform perceptions of both Irish characters and Irish locales.

A timely book that identifies the practice of (syn)aesthetics in artistic style and audience response, which helps to articulate the power of experiential practice in the arts. This exciting new approach includes interviews with leading practitioners in of theatre, dance, site-specific work, live art and technological performance practice.

Comprises of individual volumes on: Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and John Webster. The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling students and researchers to read for themselves, for example, comments on early performances of Shakespeare's plays, or reactions to the first publication of Jane Austen's novels. The carefully selected sources range from landmark essays in the history of criticism to journalism and contemporary opinion, and little published documentary material such as letters and diaries. Significant pieces of criticism from later periods are also included, in order to demonstrate the fluctuations in an author's reputation. Each volume contains an introduction to the writer's published works, a selected bibliography, and an index of works, authors and subjects. The Collected Critical Heritage set will be available as a set of 68 volumes and the series will also be available in mini sets selected by period (in slipcase oxes) and as individual volumes.

This set comprises 40 volumes covering 19th and 20th century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by theme) or as individual volumes.

This innovative collection features essays by a range of internationally renowned scholars and reconsiders textual practices in contemporary performance, specifically focusing on the exciting exchange between text, body and technology.

Tom Murphy shot to fame with the London production of A Whistle in the Dark in 1961, establishing him as the outstanding Irish playwright of his generation. The international success of DruidMurphy, the 2012-13 staging of three of his major plays by the Druid Theatre Company, served to underline his continuing appeal and importance. This is the first full scale academic study devoted to his theatre, providing an overview of all his work, with a detailed reading of his most significant texts. His powerful and searchingly honest engagement with Irish history and society is reflected in the violent Whistle in the Dark, the epic Famine (1968), the often hilarious Conversations on a Homecoming (1985) and the darkly Chekhovian The House (2000). Folklore and myth figure more prominently in the spiritual drama of The Sanctuary Lamp (1975), the Faustian Gigli Concert (1983) and the women's stories of Bailegangaire (1985). The range and reach of Murphy's theatre is demonstrated in this informed reading, supported by key interviews with the playwright himself and his most important theatrical and critical interpreters.

Language and Politics in the Sixteenth-Century History Play examines a key preoccupation of historical drama in the period 1538-1600: the threat presented by uncivil language. "Unlicensed" speech informs the presentation of political debate in Tudor history plays and it is also the subject of their most daring political speculations. By analysing plays by John Bale, Thomas Norton, Thomas Sackville, and Robert Greene, as well as Shakespeare, this study also argues for a more inclusive approach to the genre.

Love's Victory by Lady Mary Wroth (1587-1651) is the first romantic comedy written in English by a woman. The Revels Plays publishes for the first time a fully-authorised, modern spelling edition of the Penshurst manuscript, the only copy of the play containing all five acts, handwritten by Wroth and privately owned by the Viscount De L'Isle. Edited by Alison Findlay, Philip Sidney and Michael G. Brennan, their critical introduction provides details of Wroth's remarkable life and work as a member of the Sidney family, tracing connections between Love's Victory, her prose and poetry and her family's extensive writings. The editors introduce readers to the influence of court drama on Love's Victory and offer a new account of the play's stage history in productions from 1999-2018. Extensive commentary notes guiding the modern reader include explanatory glosses, literary references and staging information. -- .

"Published in the U.S.A. in 1985 under the title To analyze delight"--T.p. verso.

An outline of dramatic history which marks the great turning points in the development of theatre. A delineation of the conventions which various playwrights invented, and of the societies in which they wrote. The author intends to explain what has happened in the history of the stage, why it happened, and what it means.

Shaughnessy's Eugene O'Neill in Ireland: The Critical Response is both more and less than a detailed study of how O'Neill's plays have fared in his ancestral homeland. Part theater history and part influence study, part production sourcebook and part anthology of criticism, this volume touches on all the possible connections between the playwright and the country to which he was so closely tied. American Literature Although Eugene O'Neill felt that his Irishness was the single feature that came closest to explaining his work, the reaction of the Irish critics and public to his plays has never been systematically explored. This new study is the first to focus on Irish perceptions of O'Neill. It traces the discussion carried on by Irish critics, scholars, and theatre professionals and reveals, in the process, many exciting new insights into the nature and significance of the dramatist's work. A balanced and informative treatment, it includes the author's penetrating analysis of the ways O'Neill's Irish heritage affected his work, a selection of essays by Irish critics, and information on Irish productions of his plays. Shaughnessy first examines the dimensions of the playwright's Irish connections -- his ancestry and cultural heritage and his use of Irish-related themes, symbols, and language. He looks at the history of productions staged in Ireland between 1922 and 1987 and at the Irish perceptions of 'the O'Neill issue.' Drawing on reviews, personal interviews, questionnaires, and letters, Shaughnessy reveals the complexity of the controversy surrounding the playwright's work. Selected essays, editorials, reviews, and scholarly commentaries -- many reprinted here for the first time -- demonstrate the range of opinion and the continuing impact of O'Neill plays on Irish thought. A catalog of productions of O'Neill plays in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland provides information on the dates and locations of productions as well as casts and directors. This lively and informative work also includes a selection of superb photos of O'Neill productions staged by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin Gate Theatre, and Belfast Lyric Players.

What is Restoration comedy? What pleasure does it offer its audience, and what significance does it find in exploring that pleasure? Edward Burns here provides a new account of the origins and nature of Restoration comedy as a distinct genre. The book enlarges the usual focus with a wider range of writers than the conventional ossified canon taking in a revaluation of many rarely studied dramatists, a reconsideration of pastoral, and the instatement of women writers as major contributors to the culture of the age. It offers a substantial and original interpretation of one of the most intriguing of seventeenth-century literature forms.

* The only book that provides a thorough introduction to the current state of play in Australian theatre, including coverage of previously marginalized voices; * Platforms previously marginalized voices in Australia, covering the work of writers of colour, queer writers and gender diverse writers; * Includes a series of duologues between major contemporary Australian playwrights which are provided in both written and podcast form.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.