List of Illustrations x List of Boxes xi Preface xii Introduction 1 Palamon and Arcite was Performed with the Queen Herself Present on the Stage 1 The Upstart Crow 7 Notes 17 1 The Early Years 19 Stratford and Staging Practices 19 Princely Pleasures at Kenilworth 25 Mystery Cycles and Trade Guilds 27 Competing Authorities 28 Straws in the Wind 29 A System of Protection and Control 33 Roads Not Taken 34 Notes 36 2 Possible Beginnings 38 Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men’s Theory 39 Tarlton 44 Shakespeare and Alexander Hoghton’s Will 50 Strange’s Men 60 Notes 71 3 Shakespeare on the Record and the Stages of 1594: Newington Butts, the Theatre, Greenwich Palace, and Gray’s Inn 75 Plague 75 Duopoly 77 Shakespeare in the Records 81 Four Playing Places 82 The Theatre 83 Burbage 102 Kemp 103 Motley 105 The Cross Keys Inn 114 Greenwich Palace 117 Gray’s Inn 130 Notes 136 4 The Chamberlain’s / King’s Men and their Organization 140 Sharers 140 Hired Men (and Women) 156 Hired Men as Actors 157 Gatherers 159 Tirewomen 167 Tiremen 169 Musicians 174 Book]keepers 177 Stage]keepers 180 Apprentices 182 Conclusions 188 Notes 188 5 A Stormy Passage, from the Theatre, via the Curtain, to the Globe 193 2 The Seven Deadly Sins 205 The Stories 209 Commentary 213 The Text 213 Authorship and Dating of the Play(s) 213 Those Playhouses … Shall be Plucked Down” 221 Notes 227 6 “The Great Globe Itself” 230 The Galleries 232 Lords’ Rooms 234 Stage Directions 242 Playhouse of the Spoken Word 257 Robert Armin 264 The War of the Theatres 271 Notes 274 7 A New Reign 277 A Royal Master 279 Little Eyases and The Malcontent 281 Notes 288 8 The Blackfriars 290 Your Master’s Worship House, here, in the Friars” 299 The New Repertoire 303 Descent Machinery 305 Jonson and Shakespeare in the New House 309 Notes 319 Appendix: Chamberlain’s/King’s Men’s Plays 1594–1614, Other than by Shakespeare 322 Extant Texts, with Dates of Performance and Publication, and Probable Playhouse of First Performance 322 Anon 323 Non]Extant or Unidentified Plays Associated with the Company 324 Bibliography 325 Primary Material from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 325 Secondary Material 329 Index 341

Shakespeare's Theatre: A History examines the theatre spaces used by William Shakespeare, and situates these locations in relation to the social and political climate of the Elizabethan era. The text journeys from the provincial inns and guild halls of the Bard's early career, to the purpose-built outdoor playhouses of London, including the Globe, the Theatre, and the Curtain, and the royal courts of Elizabeth and James I. The author also discusses the players for whom Shakespeare wrote, and the positioning —or dispositioning— of audience members in relation to the stage. Widely and deeply researched, this fascinating volume draws upon recent archaeological work on the remains of the Rose and the Globe, as well as publications from the Records of Early English Drama project. Chapters relate the practicalities of early modern playing to the evolving systems of aristocratic patronage and royal licensing within which they developed, providing a sociological frame for understanding how physical spaces and commercial constraints shaped the creative practice and performance of Shakespeare's work. Insightful and engaging, Shakespeare's Theatre: A History is ideal reading for undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars of literature and theatre studies.