The Best Actors in the World - Shakespeare and His Acting Company

Shakespeare knew actors because he was one. The first book-length study of its kind, this volume investigates Shakespeare as a member of his acting company, dating and casting all the plays they presented from 1594 to 1614, and exploring the effects of actors on his writing. Much has been written about Shakespeare and a great deal is known about the Elizabethan theater. Yet little has been done to examine Shakespeare in relation to his acting company. This book casts light on Shakespeare's life in drama and the creation and staging of his plays. More precisely than any other work, it establishes the dates for his company's productions, exploring the varied and profound influences actors had on the works of Renaissance dramatists, and giving us a unique look at the man who knew his actors best of all.

As a member of the newly organized Chamberlain's Men, a company that rose to fame in the London theater, Shakespeare experienced the numerous crises, both personal and political, that nearly destroyed the company at the construction of the Globe. Grote describes the company's reorganization as the King's Men, which led to the writing of Shakespeare's great tragedies, as well as the trials of the plague years, Shakespeare's retirement from the stage, the development of writers to replace him, and the burning of the Globe.

List of contents

Introduction
Prologue
From Cross Keys to the Theatre, 1594-97
The Crisis Years, 1597-98
The Globe and Kemp's Exit, 1599-1600
Life without Kemp, 1601-3
The King's Men, 1603-6
Replacing Shakespeare, 1607-10
Shakespeare's Last Bow, 1611-13
Epilogue
Appendix: Doubling Roles
Bibliography
Index

About the author

DAVID GROTE is the author of Script Analysis, Staging the Musical, The End of Comedy, and Theatre: Preparation and Performance.

Product details

• Authors: David Grote, Grote David
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 7 to 17
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.07.2002
• EAN: 9780313320880
• ISBN: 978-0-313-32088-0
• No. of pages: 320
• Weight: 680 g
• Series: Contributions in Drama and Theatre Studies
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; History: specific events & topics, English, HISTORY / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Drama, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / General, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / History & Criticism, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / General, Theatre Studies, History: specific events and topics, Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800, Shakespeare Studies & Criticism, Literary studies: plays and playwrights, History of Performing Arts, Relating to Shakespeare / Shakespearean, The Arts: Drama