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Dramatis
Personae is the third volume in the Stage by Stage series.
It resumes the narrative after the
disappearance of Greek and Roman drama in the turbulent first
centuries of the Christian epoch.
The book traces the return of religious theatre and ritual,
with Passion Plays, Mysteries and Moralities taking over from
classical drama while folk farce flourishes throughout the
Middle Ages. Starting in Italy with the revival of classical
works, the Renaissance produces whimsical new dramatic forms
including commedia dell’arte, as well as exalted musical
innovations culminating in resplendent operas and opulent ballets.
The author studies the impact of the Renaissance in Spain,
France, Germany, Holland and in England, where theatre reached
an extraordinary climax in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.
A vivid picture is projected of the developing theatrical world
and the contributions of Kyd and Marlowe, before arriving at
Shakespeare. The author gives a detailed summary of Shakespeare’s
plays and how they have been interpreted through the centuries
since their first performance. The book also discusses the
personalities and scripts of many of Shakespeare’s contemporaries – Ford,
Beaumont, Fletcher and others now less well known – before
evoking the lives and output of Jonson and Webster, two great
dramatists who outlived the Bard.
A distinguished novelist, Philip Freund’s chronicles
are full of amusing, colourful anecdotes and sharp profiles
of major writers, composers, choreographers, designers and
players.
‘This volume is vast in scope, embracing
the famous and the obscure . . . Freud brilliantly shows
how the estrangement between church and theatre developed
. . . the author has a great gift for capturing the feel
of the past, an extraordinary breath of knowledge and depth
of sympathy. This book is not simply a work of reference.
It is not a ‘biography’ of
the early Modern theatre. It is, appropriately, a pageant.'
- Independent
on Sunday
‘A compendious study . . . an absolute wealth of detail and
curiousity . . . Freund is an expansive and erudite guide.
This encyclopaediac, fascinating tome is a must have for
anyone’s literary reference bookshelf.' - Scotland
on Sunday
‘Theatre buffs will welcome historian Freund’s
comprehensive survey . . . the richness is in the details,
and nothing is omitted.’ - Publishers Weekly
‘Stage by Stage may well turn out to be the most important
study of all facets of theatre to be published in this century.’ - The
Stage
Also available in the Stage by Stage series:
The Birth of Theatre
Oriental Theatre
Laughter and Grandeur
PHILIP FREUND is a novelist, poet, documentary film writer
and playwright as well as essayist, literary critic and anthropologist.
He is a Professor Emeritus of Fordham University, New York,
and has taught and lectured on drama and related subjects
at other universities. |
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