Historical Dictionary of British Theatre

Darryll Grantley has spent 26 years teaching theatre history at the University of Kent, and also amassing numerous facts for this fact-filled volume. In his courses, he covers all periods of British theatre, with an emphasis on the late medieval and early modern periods. In this time, he has written numerous articles and authored, edited or contributed to over a dozen books, including London in Early Modern Drama, The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre and The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and his Contemporaries.

British plays and playwrights are arguably some of the most well known and most popular in the theatrical world. Grantley, a professor of theater history at the University of Kent, offers a thorough, informative, and entertaining look at the places, plays, and people involved in British theater from 1311 to 1899. A lengthy chronology showcases such important dates as the 1610 outbreak of plague that shut down London theaters, notes the first performance of various important plays, and recognizes the inventions of various theatrical techniques. The informative introduction highlights the significant aspects of the era. The dictionary entries range from a paragraph to several pages and are cross-referenced. Famous figures, such as Sarah Bernhardt, Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan, and Shaw, appear, as do a number of actors and playwrights who may be less known to the general public. Major plays (Arms and the Man, The Country Wife, Much Ado about Nothing) are given full entries; minor works get a more concise treatment. Terms such as Burlesque, Ghost glide, Mummers/mumming plays, and Verse drama are defined. There are also entries for theater buildings themselves. A generous and well-organized bibliography rounds out the work. This historical dictionary is recommended for academic and public libraries, particularly where there is a student interest in the topic.