Janette Dillon

[The Cambridge Introduction to Early English Theatre] by Janette Dillon
This is an excellent introduction to Early English Theatre, although there are some caveats. It is a very well written and engaging text set out in five subject based chapters:

Places of Performance
Actors and audiences
Writers, controllers and the place of theatre
Genre and Tradition
Instruction and Spectacle.

Within each chapter the subject matter is dealt largely chronologically for example in Places of Performance it starts with the late medieval period and goes through to the closing of the theatres in 1642. This gives the chapters a storyline where the reader can follow the history in a logical way and appreciate how the theatre developed. There are examples from texts of some of the plays and some eye witness accounts shaded in grey with references as appropriate. I like the way they are arranged within the text so as to enhance the points made by the author; there is some fascinating stuff here that might interest the casual reader.

The first three subject headings are full of fascinating information, however I found the fourth subject heading Genre and Tradition a step down from the high standards of the first three chapters. Genre is an issue for 20th/21st century students/critics who feel the need to pigeonhole plays and as Dillon points out this was not an issue for 17th century theatre goers and readers. In my opinion Dillon transgresses into talking about definitions of tragedies, of comedies and other genres in a way that has little bearing on early theatre. The book ends with a good section on Instruction and Spectacle that again takes the reader back into the world of early theatre.

There are some excellent appendices particularly the first which is a Select Chronology of Plays and Other Performances, which is a gold mine for those readers interested in reading the plays that are mentioned in the text. I think it is useful to have read some early theatre material but not essential to enjoy this book. A must for anybody who wants a grounding in early English theatre and also much to enjoy for the more casual reader. 4.5 stars.… (més)