A Symposium on the Playing Times of Shakespeare’s Plays in Early Modern Performance

Abstract

Abstract This symposium consists of three essays written by scholars responding to each other’s views on the topic of whether Shakespeare’s longer plays would have been abridged for performance in the early modern era. Two of the authors argue that these dramatic works would have generally been performed at lengths corresponding to the full written texts of these plays as they have come down to us through the editorial tradition. The third author instead asserts that, while they may have been performed at their full length during indoor performance at the Blackfriars, Shakespeare’s longer plays would have been abridged in public performance at the Globe to a playing time of approximately two hours.