English Professional Theatre, 1530–1660 ed. by Glynne Wickham, Herbert Berry, William Ingram

Abstract

ESC 28, 2002 stole several books, including English histories, on Christmas Day 1620. But Reading History in Early Modern England is well worth acquiring by honest means. It is a major contribution to our understanding of the cultural configurations of this period of significant change. DAVID FREEMAN / Sir Wilfrid Grenfell College English Professional Theatre, 1530-1660. Ed. Glynne Wick­ ham, Herbert Berry, and W illiam Ingram. Cambridge: Cam­ bridge University Press, 2001. 714. $140.00 (U.S.) cloth. W hat a feast! Trying in a brief review to do justice to a treasuretrove , to a rich reference work of this scope, is very difficult. The sixth volume in the series “Theatre in Europe: A documentary history,” this book maps the narrative history of the English theatre by presenting a comprehensive array of original doc­ uments (or excerpts) according to three scenarii. First, edited by Glynne Wickham, come eighty-nine chronologically arranged documents that show how and why successive Tudor and early Stuart monarchs attem pted to bring the theatre under their control. Next, edited by William Ingram, are one hundred and eight documents that depict the lives and fortunes of profes­ sional actors and their widely varying reputation in the eyes of the public at large. The final section, by far the largest, is edited by Herbert Berry; he presents three hundred and twenty docu­ ments illustrating the histories of the twenty-three playhouses that were built or rented in London from 1567 to 1642. Berry arranges his vast array of materials by theatre, and presents each playhouse in order of its opening date. The editors stitch together their materials with succinct introductions, notes, and other explanatory passages — and for each playhouse, Professor Berry also pinpoints its modern location. Sometimes the notes and explanations are quixotically misplaced; a more thorough copy-editing at the page-proof stage would have been beneficial. In counting the above numbers of documents, I have followed the numbering used in the volume; in many cases, however, a “document” really presents numbers of documents from differ­ ent originals. For example, No. 504, “The second Fortune play­ 718 REVIEWS house comes to an end, 1649-1739” (646-48), collects excerpts from seven narratives, plays, letters, advertisements, and his­ torical accounts. Hence it would likely take many hours just to enumerate all the different documents that comprise this vast volume. A ten-page bibliography lists all the printed sources, and a comprehensive index makes it easy to track down partic­ ular persons, places, or subjects. Much here is familiar because no such collection could ex­ clude well-known and crucial sources such as, say, the Fortune contract (No. 417). All the documents are fresh transcriptions from the originals, except in a few cases where those have been destroyed or mislaid. The texts are presented in modernized spelling and punctuation, with abbreviations silently expanded. Purists may question these decisions, which accord with the guidelines of the series; for the intended audiences (teachers and students) the texts are clear and intelligible. Those wishing to consult other versions are guided by notes, immediately be­ low each main entry-heading, that locate the originals and list previous transcriptions. One is impressed by the number of doc­ uments whose previous discovery and publication are the work of the present editors. As well, much here is new, as is shown by the number of transcriptions that appear here for the first time; the collection breaks much wholly new ground. Throughout their scholarly careers, the three editors have expended much of their energies on the discovery and study of original sources; their expertise and devotion are apparent on every page. Considerations of space have necessitated omission of all forms of am ateur and occasional theatricals, including masques, although documents outlining the Tudor governments’ moves to control the Corpus Christi and other local religious plays are included. As well, the volume does not present overviews of the history of dram atic companies (as opposed to playhouses) or the careers of playwrights or their plays. As the editors ad­ mit, “these are serious omissions” (7), but they are perhaps understandable given the length of the book as it is. While the term inal date of 1642 is...