Actors and Acting in Shakespeare's Time The Art of Stage Playing [Hardcover]

Perfect for courses, this book is an account of the first actors in the plays of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Jonson.A survey of acting in the Shakespearean period, this book describes and analyses individual performers, styles of performance, theatrical companies, and casting. Perfect for courses, it will be of interest to all students and scholars in the areas of Shakespeare studies, early modern drama and theatre, and theatrical history.A survey of acting in the Shakespearean period, this book describes and analyses individual performers, styles of performance, theatrical companies, and casting. Perfect for courses, it will be of interest to all students and scholars in the areas of Shakespeare studies, early modern drama and theatre, and theatrical history.John Astington brings the acting style of the Shakespearean period to life, describing and analyzing the art of the player in the English professional theater between Richard Tarlton and Thomas Betterton. The book pays close attention to the cultural context of stage playing, the critical language used about it, and the kinds of training and professional practice employed in the theater at various times over the course of roughly one hundred years  15581660. Perfect for courses, this up-to-date survey takes into account recent discoveries about actors and their social networks, about apprenticeship and company affiliations, and about playing outside the major center of theater, London. Astington considers the educational tradition of playing, in schools, universities, legal inns, and choral communities, in comparison to the work of the professional players. A comprehensive biographical dictionary of all major professional players of the Shakespearean period is included as a handy reference guide.Introduction: the purpose of playing; 1. Shadows, jests, and counterfeits; 2. Playing and education; 3. Apprentices; 4. Playing many parts; 5. Players at work; 6. Conclusion; Appendix. Principal actors 15581660; Bibliols%