1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910960831303321

Autore

Grote David

Titolo

The best actors in the world : Shakespeare and his acting company / / David Grote

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Westport, Conn. : , : Praeger, , 2002

London : , : Bloomsbury Publishing, , 2024

ISBN

9798400617621

9786610468805

9781280468803

1280468807

9780313012747

0313012741

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (304 p.)

Collana

Contributions in drama and theatre studies, , 0163-3821 ; ; no. 97

Disciplina

792/.0942/09031

Soggetti

Theatrical companies - England - History - 16th century

Theatrical companies - England - History - 17th century

Acting - History - 16th century

Acting - History - 17th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [275]-284) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Machine generated contents note: Introduction xiii -- 1: Prologue 1 -- 2: From Cross Keys to The Theatre, 1594-97 21 -- 3: The Crisis Years, 1597-98 53 -- 4: The Globe and Kemp's Exit, 1599-1600 77 -- 5: Life Without Kemp, 1600-03 99 -- 6: The King's Men, 1603-06 123 -- 7: Replacing Shakespeare, 1607-10 159 -- 8: Shakespeare Bows Out, 1610-13 191 -- 9: Epilogue 213 -- Appendix A: Doubling Roles 219 -- Appendix B: Charts 223 -- Chart A: Timeline of Productions for Shakespeare's Company 224 -- Chart B: Probable Casting of Chamberlain's Men Plays 228 -- Chart C: Probable Casting of King's Men Plays, 1604-08 238 -- Chart D: Probable Casting of King's Men Plays, 1610-14 246 -- Chart E: Acting Company Shares 252 -- Chart F: Globe Partnership Shares 253.

Sommario/riassunto

Shakespeare knew actors because he was one. The first book-length



study of its kind, this volume investigates Shakespeare as a member of his acting company, dating and casting all the plays they presented from 1594 to 1614, and exploring the effects of actors on his writing. Much has been written about Shakespeare and a great deal is known about the Elizabethan theater. Yet little has been done to examine Shakespeare in relation to his acting company. This book casts light on Shakespeare's life in drama and the creation and staging of his plays. More precisely than any other work, it establishes the dates for his company's productions, exploring the varied and profound influences actors had on the works of Renaissance dramatists, and giving us a unique look at the man who knew his actors best of all. As a member of the newly organized Chamberlain's Men, a company that rose to fame in the London theater, Shakespeare experienced the numerous crises, both personal and political, that nearly destroyed the company at the construction of the Globe. Grote describes the company's reorganization as the King's Men, which led to the writing of Shakespeare's great tragedies, as well as the trials of the plague years, Shakespeare's retirement from the stage, the development of writers to replace him, and the burning of the Globe.