Cultural History of Theatre in the Early Modern Age

Robert Henke is Professor of Drama and Comparative Literature, and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Washington University, St. Louis, USA.

• List of IllustrationsNotes on ContributorsSeries PrefaceEditor’s AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Culture, Cultural History and Early Modern TheatreRobert Henke, Washington University, USA1 Institutional Frameworks: Mapping Theatrical ResourcesTom Bishop,University of Auckland, New Zealand and Robert Henke, Washington University, USA2. Social Functions: Audience Participation, Efficacious EntertainmentErika T. Lin, The City University of New York, USA3. Sexuality and Gender: The Early Modern Theatrical BodyEric Nicholson, Syracuse University in Florence, Italy4. The Environment of Theatre: Urbanization and Theatre Building in Early Modern EuropeKaren Newman, Brown University, USA5. Circulation: Aristocratic, Commercial, Religious and Artistic Networks Pavel Drábek, University of Hull, UK6. Interpretations: Antitheatrical Thinking and the Rise of 'Theatre'Stefan Hulfeld, University of Vienna, Austria 7. Communities of Production: Lives in and out of the TheatreWilliam N. West, Northwestern University, USA8. Repertoire and Genre: Culture and SocietyFriedemann Kreuder, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany9. Technologies of Performance: From Mystery Plays to the Italian OrderBlair Hoxby, Stanford, USA10 Knowledge Transmission: Theatre at the Crossroads of Concept, Medium and PracticeEllen MacKay, Indidana University, USANotesBibliographyIndex

Not since the Cambridge History of American Theatre (1998–2000) has a multiauthored theatre history been as anticipated as Bloomsbury’s A Cultural History of Theatre… Having read all six volumes (1,636 pages), I can testify to the magnitude of their accomplishment. A Cultural History of Theatre is a profound reconsideration of how we understand theatre, its myriad social contexts, and the cultural work it accomplishes… the product of intellectual labor and creativity, and its accomplishments are many. A landmark work in theatre and social history, it illuminates theatre through the lens of culture, and culture through the lens of theatre.