Plotting Early Modern London

Dieter Mehl, University of Bonn, Germany, Angela Stock, University of Munster, Germany and Anne-Julia Zwierlein, University of Bamberg, Germany Angela Stock, Anne-Julia Zwierlein, Alan Brissenden, Mattthias Bauer, Richard Waswo, David Crane, Andrew Gurr, Alizon Brunning, Dieter Mehl, Ruth Morse, Robyn Bolam, Deborah Cartmell.

• Contents: Preface; Introduction: 'Our scene is London...', Angela Stock and Anne-Julia Zwierlein. Part I Bourgeois Domestic Drama: Middletonian families, Alan Brissenden; Doolittle's father(s): Master Merrythought in The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Matthias Bauer. Part II The Culture Of Credit: Crises of credit: monetary and erotic economies in the Jacobean theatre, Richard Waswo; Shipwrecks in the city: commercial risk as romance in Early Modern city comedy, Anne-Julia Zwierlein. Part III Playhouse Politics: Patterns of audience involvement at the Blackfriars Theatre in the early 17th century: some moments in Marston's The Dutch Courtesan, David Crane; 'Within the compass of the city walls': allegiances in plays for and about the city, Andrew Gurr. Part IV Civic Religion: 'Something done in honour of the city': ritual, theatre and satire in Jacobean civic pageantry, Angela Stock; 'Thou art damned for alt'ring thy religion': the double coding of conversion in city comedy, Alizon Brunning. Part V City Comedy And Shakespeare: The London Prodigal as Jacobean city comedy, Dieter Mehl; What city, friends, is this?, Ruth Morse. Part VI Shakespearean City Comedy Today: Rewriting city comedy through time and cultures: The Taming of the Shrew - Padua to London to Padua US, Robyn Bolam; Hamlet in 2000: Michael Almeryda's city comedy, Deborah Cartmell; Bibliography; Index.

'Angela Stock and Anne-Julia Zwierlein, two of the editors, offer an introduction which serves both as an astute summation of the theatrical and cultural significance of Jacobean comedy in London and as a rationale for the division of the twelve essays into symmetrical pairs... Angela Stock connects elite and popular theatrical forms in an illuminating new perspective, one that is admirably documented with historical detail... In thus offering fresh views on controversial issues, the volume editors set a high standard that is manifest throughout the essays in this important collection.' Renaissance Quarterly '... the contributors add substantially to our understanding of city comedy and its contemporary backgrounds, and this volume will be of interest to anyone working on Jacobean drama.' Modern Language Review