Richard Dutton - Shakespeare’s Theatre: A History

1. Chapter 02
2. Chapter 03
3. Chapter 06

The De Witt drawing of the Swan playhouse.

Source: ART Vol. d57, no. 45c, Folger Shakespeare Library.

Richard Dutton

This edition first published 2018
2018 Richard Dutton

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Dutton, Richard, 1948 author.
Title: Shakespeares theatre : a history / by Richard Dutton.
Description: Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017024307 (print) | LCCN 2017036417 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118939338 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118939321 (epub) | ISBN 9781405115131 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Shakespeare, William, 15641616Dramatic production. | Shakespeare, William, 15641616Stage history. | TheatreEnglandHistory16th century. | TheatreEnglandHistory17th century. | English dramaEarly modern and Elizabethan, 15001600History and criticism. | English drama17th centuryHistory and criticism.
Classification: LCC PR3095 (ebook) | LCC PR3095 .D885 2018 (print) | DDC 822/.309dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017024307

Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Images: (Theatre Swan De Witt) Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo;
(Background) ke77kz/Gettyimages

For Hollea, who likes books

Shakespeares Theatre is a narrative history of the playing spaces that Shakespeare wrote for not just the famous ones, like the Globe and the Blackfriars playhouses, but the country houses, inns, guild halls, Inns of Court and the royal palaces where he knew that his plays would also be performed. It is a history in that it follows a chronological arc, from about the time of his birth in 1564 until his retirement from the stage around 1613/14.

This is to underline the point that there was no single Elizabethan stage. The theatrical profession underwent revolutionary change during Shakespeares lifetime, developing from forms that were largely based in households of the aristocracy and gentry, academic institutions and royal palaces. Some troupes toured locally and then further afield, advertising the status of their patrons but also becoming increasingly professional. Theatrical venues specifically for them (and also for boy companies from some of the leading choir schools) were built in and around London from the 1570s. Around 1590 companies began to take up residence in these playhouses on a moreorless permanent basis, as London developed a population capable of sustaining daily playing, setting the conditions for the career of a man like Shakespeare.