Research Guides: Theatre Appreciation (43-101): Great Britain

England (1450-1550)

English Tudor theatre

Textbooks on reserve can be checked out for a short period of time.

Theatre: a history of the art by Jerry V. Pickering
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- heater and society
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Chapter 7 English Theatre from the End of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance
- Interlude/Tudor School Drama (theater and society/representative plays and dramatists)
History of the Theatre by Oscar G. Brockett
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Theater and society
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Chapter 5 English Theatre to 1642
- Early Tudor Drama (Representative Plays/Representative Dramatists/Theater and Society)

General books on English theatre and drama that have at least one chapter on this time period

England 1450-1550: Subjects

Library catalog subject search:

This time period overlaps with the Middle Ages and the Elizabethan period (1550-1660)

Daily Life in Elizabethan England by Jeffrey L. Singman
The world of Christopher Marlowe
Citizen Marlowe -- Lessons learned in childhood -- Speaking like a Roman -- Scholars and gentlemen -- Thinking like a Roman -- The teacher of desire -- Plots and counter plots -- Proceeding in the arts -- In the theatre of the idols -- Notoriety -- "He is like Dr. Faustus" -- Double agents -- The counterfeiters -- Waiting for the end -- In the theatre of God's judgements
A Companion to Tudor Britain by edited by Robert Tittler and Norman Jones
Daily life in Chaucer's England
The medieval world comes alive in this indispensable "hands-on" resource to life as it was actually lived - with authentic recipes, clothing patterns, songs, dances, and games. The first book on medieval England to arise out of the "living history" movement, it recreates the daily life of ordinary people, not just the aristocracy, by combining a hands-on approach with the best of current research.

Books in Owens Library with Renaissance English play scripts:

An Anthology of English Drama Before Shakespeare by Robert Bechtold Heilman

Links to free internet Renaissance English play scripts:

Gammer Gurton's Needle
Roister Doister By Nicholas Udall
Gorboduc or Ferrex and Porrex, a tragedy, by T. Norton and T. Sackville

International dictionary of theatre: Playwrights
2. Playwrights, Nicholas Udall, p.987

England 1550-1660

A Cultural History of Theatre by Jack Watson
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Acting, performance, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Theater and society
- Influence on modern or contemporary theater
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Chapter 6 Elizabethan Theatre in the English Renaissance
- Social Ideas Humours/Religion/Capitalism/Adventure & Exploration/Conflict between Old & New
- Art Ideas Painting/Music
- Elizabethan Theatre – Occasion/Location (theaters, playhouses)/Performers (actors) – Edward Alleyn, Richard Burbage, Richard Tarleton (specialized as clown or fool roles), Will Kempe, Richard Armin/Audience
- Dramatic Literature – Representative Playwrights/dramatists – Shakespeare (history plays, tragedies, comedies)/Marlowe (history plays, tragedies)/Thomas Kyd (tragedies)/Ben Jonson (Comedies)
- Representative Plays – Histories (Tamburlaine/Marlowe, Richard III & Henry V/Shakespeare) Tragedies – (Dr. Faustus/Marlowe, The Spanish Tragedy/Kyd, Hamlet & Othello & Macbeth & King Lear/Shakespeare) Comedies – (Much Ado About Nothing & Twelfth Night & As You Like It/Shakespeare, The Alchemist & Volpone & Bartholomew Fair/Jonson)
- Connections – what about theatre of this time contributed to theatre and the arts beyond this era
- Modern Interpretations -
- Spectacle – music, dance, pageantry, pantomime, clowns, crowd scenes
- Check the Sources for Further Study to locate books in our collection and MOBIUS
Western theatre: Revolution and revival by Patti P. Gillespie
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Theater and society
- Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Chapter 9 The Age of Shakespeare
- The Period 1500-1650 (Theater and Society)
- Reformation, Knowledge and Education, Cities, Technology and New Wealth
- State Two: Buildings and Greatness 1575-1620 (Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design and technical innovations)– Actors and Acting Figure 9.7 p. 214 Leading English Player c. 1575-1642, Playing Conditions, Theatres: Globe – London, the First Globe/Controversies: Acting Areas, Entrances, Discoveries/The Elizabethan Theatre in Use, Scenery, Lighting, Actors and Acting, Costuming
- (Plays and Playwrights) – Figure 9.16 Leading Playwrights 1500-1650 p. 227, Elizabethan Drama/William Shakespeare and Other Elizabethan Dramatists
- Theaters and Theater Architecture – Figure 9.19 Permanent Playhouses 1575-1650 p.231
Theatre: a history of the art by Jerry V. Pickering
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Theater and society
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Chapter 7 English Theatre from the End of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance
- Renaissance England/ University Wits (theater and society)
- Thomas Kyd/Christopher Marlowe/William Shakespeare/Ben Jonson/Thomas Middleton (representative plays and dramatists/playwrights)
- Acting Troupes/Earl of Leicester’s Men/Lord Chamberlain’s Men/Lord Admiral’s Men/Acting/Richard Tarleton/Richard Burbage/Edward Alleyn (Actors and Acting)
- The Elizabethan Playhouse (Theater architecture and buildings)
- Scenery (Stage design and Scenery)
- Costumes (Costumes)
- Indigo Jones (Set Designer/Stage Designer/Theatre Architect)
Theatre Past and Present: an introduction by Milly S. Barranger
ISBN: 053402842X
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Influence on modern or contemporary theater
- Chapter 5 Elizabethan Theatre
- Conditions of Performance/Acting Company (Acting)
- The Playhouse/Architectural Façade as Background (Theater Design/Stage Design)
- Playwriting/Representative Play - Macbeth (representative plays and dramatists)
- Christopher Marlowe/William Shakespeare (representative dramatists/playwrights)
- Costumes and Properties (Costumes)
- Trevor Nunn’s Macbeth (Influence on modern or contemporary theater)
History of the Theatre by Oscar G. Brockett with Franklin J. Hildy
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Acting, performance, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Theater and society
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Chapter 5 English Theatre to 1642
- Government Regulation of the Theatre (Theatre and Society)
- University Wits/Shakespeare and His Contemporaries/Jacobean and Carolyn Dramatists (Representative Plays/Representative dramatists or playwrights)
- Acting Troupes (Actors and Acting)
- Scenery, Properties, Special Effects, and Music (Stage Design, Theater Design, Scenery, Technical Innovations)
- Costumes (Costumes)
- Public Theatres/Private Theatres (Theater Architecture, Theater Design)

General books on English theatre and drama that have at least one chapter or section on this time period:

The Theatre of Elizabethan England
ISBN: 9780761860037
Acting Companies and their Plays in Shakespeare's London
ISBN: 9781408146637
Shakespeare's Theatres and the Effects of Performance
ISBN: 9781472558596
Shakespeare and Costume
ISBN: 9781472525079
Elizabethan Popular Theatre : Plays in Performance
ISBN: 9781135032661
Publication Date: 2005
The Shakespearean Stage Space
ISBN: 9781139097192
Publication Date: 2012
Theatrical Convention and Audience Response in Early Modern Drama
ISBN: 9780511073977
Publication Date: 2003
Profession of Dramatist in Shakespeare's Time, 1590-1642
Call Number: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=nlebk&AN=947180&site=ehost-live&scope=site
ISBN: 9780691620046
Publication Date: 1984
Costuming the Shakespearean Stage : Visual Codes of Representation in Early Modern Theatre and Culture
ISBN: 9781409436836
Publication Date: 2011
Actors and Acting in Shakespeare's Time : The Art of Stage Playing
ISBN: 9781139778671
Publication Date: 2010
English Renaissance Tragedy
ISBN: 9781472572813

England 1550-1660: Subjects

Library catalog subject search:

Links to the full text of Scripts for English 1550-1660 and Plays
Reading list for theatre majors

Full Text of English 1550-1660 play scripts from Drama Online:

Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
ISBN: 9780713673760
Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd
ISBN: 9781408114216
Volpone or the Fox by Ben Jonson
ISBN: 9780713654332

Drama for Students (eBook) by Chrisopher Marlowe
ISBN: 9780787640866
"Author Biography" of the playwright Christopher Marlowe for the play Doctor Faustus.
Drama for Students (eBook) by Thomas Kyd
ISBN: 9780787640866
"Author Biography" of the playwright Thomas Kyd for the play Spanish Tragedy.
Drama for Students (eBook) by Ben Jonson
ISBN: 9780787640866
"Author Biography" of the playwright Ben Jonson for the play Volpone.

Streaming video:

England (1660-1800)

A Cultural History of Theatre by Jack Watson
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Acting, performance, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Theater and society
- Influence on modern or contemporary theater
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Chapter 10 English Theatre 1660-1800
- Social Ideas reason/sentiment - sentimentality
- Art Ideas Novel/OperaBallad Opera
- Restoration Theatre – Occaision/Location/Performers/Audience
- 18th - Occasion/Location/Performers/Audience/David Garrick/Phillipe De Loutherbourg
- Comedy of Manners
- Sentimental Comedy
- Connections – what about theatre of this time contributed to theatre and the arts beyond this era
- Rectangular theatre house still in use today
- Lighting by Loutherbourg and scenic devices to enhance visual realism
- Garrick acting still seen in the work of Laurence Olivier
- Comedy of Manners – still used by Neil Simon and Noel Coward
- Sentimental Comedy – soap operas
- Check the Sources for Further Study to locate books in our collection and MOBIUS
Period Style for the Theatre by Douglas A. Russell
(2 hour loan) This is good for:
- Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Theater and society
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Several Chapter from this book cover the time period 1660-1800
- Not all of the information presented is limited exclusively to England
- Chapter 11 Restoration Baroque Style
- Chapter 12 Early Eighteenth Century Rococo Style
- Chapter 13 Neoclassic and Empire Style
- Each chapter contains a section for:
- Art and Culture (theatre and society)
- Life and Cultural Ideals (theater and society)
- Ornament, Interiors, and Furniture (set design)
- Costume and Accessories
- Manners and Movement (acting and performance)
- The Theatre (Theater and stage design)
- Acting the Plays (Acting and performance)
- The plays (representative plays and dramatists)
Western theatre: Revolution and revival by Patti P. Gillespie
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Theater and society
- Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- The Period 1650-1750 (Theater and Society)
- State of the Theatre 1650-1750 (Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design and technical innovations)– Public Theatres, Scenery, Lighting, Actors and Acting, Costuming
- England and English Drama (Plays and dramatists) – with a chart for English Playwrights 1650-1750 pp. 320-321
Theatre: a history of the art by Jerry V. Pickering
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Theater and society
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Chapter 9 Restoration Period
- Commonwealth and Restoration/Theatre During the Commonwealth/Theatre Revived (theater and society)
- Restoration Drama (representative plays and dramatists)
- Restoration Stage/Scenic Design/Costumes/Acting (Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design, and technical innovations)
- Chapter 10 Eighteenth Century
- Eighteenth Century Background (theater and society)
- Eighteenth Century English Drama (representative plays and dramatists)
- The English Stage/Acting (Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design, and technical innovations)
Theatre Past and Present: an introduction by Milly S. Barranger
ISBN: 053402842X
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Influence on modern or contemporary theater
- Chapter 8 Restoration and Eighteenth Century Theater.
- Conditions of Performance (Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design, and technical innovations)
- Dramatic Conventions (Acting, performance, costumes, stage design, theater design, and technical innovations)
- Representative Play (representative plays and dramatists)
- Eighteenth Century Comedy in Modern Performance (Influence on modern or contemporary theater)
History of the Theatre by Oscar G. Brockett with Franklin J. Hildy
(4 hour loan) This is good for:
- Acting, performance, stage design, theater design and technical innovations
- Theater and society
- Representative plays and dramatists of the time
- Chapter 9/The British Theatre to 1800, page 233
- This chapter covers 1660-1700, 1700-1750, and 1750-1800.
- Representative plays and dramatists, theatre architecture, scenic practices, costume practices, actors and acting, and audiences and performances

Core books on English theatre:

Core books on English 17th and 18th century theatre:

The Cambridge companion to English Restoration theatre
The theatre / Edward A. Langhans -- The performance / Joseph Roach -- Adaptations and revivals / Michael Dobson -- Comedy / Brian Corman -- Tragedy / Christopher J. Wheatley -- Tragicomedy / Nancy Klein Maguire -- Farce / Peter Holland -- Restoration and settlement: 1660 and 1688 / Derek Hughes -- Change, skepticism, and uncertainty / Jessica Munns -- Drama and political crisis / Susan J. Owen -- Spectacle, horror, and pathos / Jean I. Marsden -- Gender, sexuality, and marriage / Pat Gill -- Playwright versus priest: profanity and the wit of restoration comedy / Michael Cordner -- The canon and its critics / Robert Markley
The Restoration stage
The Garrick stage: Theatres and audience in the eighteenth century

England 1660-1800: Subjects

Library catalog subject search:

Links to the full-text of scripts for English 1660-1800 plays

Reading list for theatre majors

Links to free internet English 1660-1800 plays:

Free Full Text from Drama Online

The School for Scandal
ISBN: 9780713662900
She Stoops to Conquer
ISBN: 9780713667943

Drama for Students (eBook)
ISBN: 9780787640866
"Author Biography" of the playwright Oliver Goldsmith
Drama for Students (eBook)
ISBN: 9780787640866
"Author Biography" of the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Drama for Students (eBooks)
ISBN: 9780787640866
"Author Biography" of the playwright William Congreve

Streaming video:

England (1800-1900)

Theatre: a history of the art by Jerry V. Pickering
(4 hour loan) Chapter 11 The Nineteenth Century
- Nineteenth Century in England
- Drama – Plays & Dramatists
- Theatre – Stage Design & Scenery
- Acting
Western theatre: Revolution and revival by Patti P. Gillespie
(4 hour loan) Chapter 14 The Romantic Age
- The Period – politics, population growth, economic & social changes, the arts (some assumptions of Romanticisim)
- Theatre of Romanticism – England
- Regulation
- Audience
- Repertory
History of the Theatre by Oscar G. Brockett with Franklin J. Hildy
(4 hour loan) Chapter 13 English-Language Theatre Early Nineteenth Century
- Trends in English Theatre 1800-1843
- English Drama to the 1850s – Dramatists & Plays
- English Theatrical Conditions, 1800-1843 – Actors & Acting
- Chapter 14 English-Language Theatre Late Nineteenth Century
- English Drama 1850-1900
- English Theatrical Conditions

Victorian Theatricals
ISBN: 9780413744609
Full Text from Drama Online
Violent Victorians : popular entertainment in nineteenth-century London
ISBN: 9780719086847
The Making of the West End Stage : Marriage, Management and the Mapping of Gender in London, 1830-1870
ISBN: 9780521519014
Reflecting the audience : London theatregoing, 1840-1880
ISBN: 9780877457817
Women and Victorian Theatre
ISBN: 9780521471671
'Politics, Performance and Popular Culture' : Theatre and Society in Nineteenth-century Britain
ISBN: 9780719091698

England 1800-1900: Subjects

Library catalog subject search:

Stage design and theater architecture:

Acting:

Owens Library Subject Headings

Owens Library books:

Links to the full text of Scripts for English 1800-1900 Play Scripts

Reading list for theatre majors

Links to free internet English 1800-1900 play scripts:

Full Text from Drama Online:

Lady Windermere's Fan
ISBN: 9780713666670
Full Text from Drama Online
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray
ISBN: 9780413572905
Full Text from Drama Online
Arms and the Man
ISBN: 9780713679984

Arms and the Man
ISBN: 9780787681180
"Author Biography" of playwright Bernard Shaw.
Lady Windermere's Fan
ISBN: 9780787681180
"Author Biography" of Oscar Wilde
*International Dictionary of Theatre: Playwrights, volume 2
Boucicault, Dion, p.115
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward, p.147
Byron, H(enry) J(ames), p.151
Wilde, Oscar, p.1040
Galsworthy, John, p.355
Gilbert, W(illiam) S(chwenck), p.378

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