Elizabethan Stage Conventions and Modern Interpreters

• Preface; Note on texts and old spelling; 1. The arrow in Nessus: Elizabethan clues and modern detectives; 2. Interpreting stage directions; 3. The logic of 'this' on the open stage; 4. Elizabethan darkness and modern lighting; 5. The logic of 'place' and locale; 6. The logic of stage violence; 7. Theatrical metaphor: seeing and not-seeing; 8. Conclusion: Elizabethan playscripts and modern interpreters; Notes; List of plays and editions; Index.

'The work makes a useful contribution to both theatre history and dramatic criticism … Dessen's kind of analysis offers an escape from the straitjacket of character criticism in particular for it will encourage the study of scenic form and thereby make students aware of all that is not 'personality'.' The Times Higher Education Supplement