The Cambridge Illustrated History of British Theatre
The Cambridge Illustrated History of British Theatre
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Written with style, imagination and insight, and packed with interesting illustrations, this authoritative book traces the development through the ages of plays and playwriting, forms of staging, the acting profession and the role of the actor - in fact all aspects of live entertainment. From satire and burlesque to melodrama and pantomime, this is a major history of British theatre from the earliest times to the present day. Shifting its focus constantly between those who played and those who watched, between officially approved performance and the popular theatre of the people, The Cambridge Illustrated History of British Theatre will be invaluable to anyone interested in theatre, whether student, teacher, performer or spectator.
- Extensive coverage of theatre from the minor and 'illegitimate' to the mainstream and 'official'
- Examines the influences on theatre from abroad and the impact of British theatre overseas
- Strikingly illustrated throughout
- A uniquely comprehensive introduction to the British Theatre in all its manifestations, historical and contemporary
Reviews & endorsements
'Like the best theatre, this book is fast-moving, accessible, and thoroughly enjoyable.' Antony Sher
'… until Trussler's [book], I do not recall reading a complete history of the theatre in this country which puts everything into context …Trussler has therefore discovered a gap in the market and well he fills it … Taken a chapter at a time, the sheer magnitude of Trussler's task, the amount of effort and scholarship he has put into it, becomes evident, not least the careful selection of illustrations … a considerable work of reference, covering not only the plays, the actors, the styles of playing and the theatres themselves, but the social and political attitudes of each era ...'. Stage
'… an enlightening and enlivening read'. The Times Literary Supplement
'A combination of authoritative writing and superb illustration makes this one hard to beat as an overview.' The National Theatre Magazine
'… this is a history likely to prove both enticing and affordable to the beginner whilst being sufficiently unexpected in many of its conjections to engage the specialist'. Theatre Research International
'In this excellent history of British theatre from Roman drama to contemporary stand-up comedy, Simon Trussler shows that the intrigues, prohibitions and shady entrepreneurship so wittily realised in the film Shakespeare in Love informed every phase of theatre's development … This is a passionately written work full of drama and incident.' Saturday Extra (Australia)
Product details
September 2000Paperback
9780521794305
416 pages
252 × 203 × 37 mm
1.405kg
136 b/w illus. 93 colour illus. 2 maps
Unavailable - out of print July 2009
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Roman Britain and the Early Middle Ages
- 2. The High Middle Ages
- 3. The Later Middle Ages
- 4. The shaping of a professional theatre
- 5. The era of the outdoor playhouses
- 6. The Jacobean theatre
- 7. The Caroline and Commonwealth theatre
- 8. The Restoration theatre
- 9. The birth of a Bourgeois theatre
- 10. The actors ascendant
- 11. Opposition and oppression
- 12. The Garrick years
- 13. From manners to melodrama
- 14. The end of the monopoly
- 15. Towards a respectable theatre
- 16. The speculative theatre
- 17. Romance and realism
- 18. The war and the long weekend
- 19. The utility theatre
- 20. Anger and affluence
- 21. Alternative theatres
- 22. Theatre and the marketplace
- 23. Epilogue.
