The Shakespearian Playing Companies

Abstract

Abstract This book is the first history of the professional acting companies who brought drama to London in William Shakespeare’s time. The book provides a general history of company development from the 1560s, when the first of the major companies belonging to great lords began regularly to offer their plays at court and in London, to 1642, when by Act of Parliament they were closed down. Only in London were the playing companies able to secure purpose-built premises (such as The Globe or The Fortune), and to foster a thriving theatrical and literary culture. This was in direct contrast to much of the rest of England, which was overtly hostile to professional theatre. In the second part of the book, there are detailed and fascinating accounts of each of the forty companies that played in London during the period, including Shakespeare’s company, The Chamberlain’s/King’s Men. Although professional playing was very much a collective endeavour, remarkable individuals emerge — from impresarios such as Philip Henslowe, Christopher Beeston, Richard Gunnell, and Richard Heton, to stars like Richard Burbage and Edward Alleyn. Thoroughly grounding its discussion in the highly mobile social and political historical context, the book focuses on the plays themselves and the distinctive repertory traditions that led the different companies to stage them. These companies, and the growth of the London theatrical culture, are the factors which helped produce Shakespeare and to put into practice Shakespearian conceptions of drama.

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