Choice Review

Since the 1970s, historical research has overturned numerous assumptions about drama prior to 1642, and criticism has focused less on individual authors and formal analysis and more on the cultural and material conditions in which drama was produced. The 26 essays (all by established critics and historians) in this valuable and much-needed work focus particularly on the social and material implications of performance spaces from street to court; the ways in which religious, civic, domestic, courtly, literary, and popular expectations affected the drama; and the conditions under which plays were produced and disseminated. The collection provides an accurate and authoritative overview of the early English drama, embeds it in the historical conditions of its production, and suggests directions for future study. The bibliography, index, and play index all cover the entire book, so that one can easily locate a topic wherever it appears. These clearly written essays will be accessible and useful to upper-division undergraduates as well as to more specialized readers. Highly recommended. B. E. Brandt; South Dakota State University