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Studies in Performance and Early Modern Drama
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Leslie Thomson
From Playtext to Performance on
the Early Modern Stage
This book reconsiders the evidence for what we know (or think we know)
about early modern performance conditions.
This study encourages a new recognition and treatment of certain aspects of
the plays as evidence – and demonstrates the significance of the implications
of that new information. This book is also an assessment of the competing nar-
ratives about the processes involved in early modern performance: about the
status of manuscript playbooks, about the parts that players memorized, about
the functions of the bookkeeper, about casting, about prompting, and about
rehearsal practices. Leslie Thomson investigates the bases for the interdepend-
ent beliefs that an early modern player relied only on his part to prepare for a
performance, that rehearsal was minimal, and that a bookkeeper compensated
for these circumstances by prompting any player who was “out of his part.”
By focusing on often ignored (or downplayed) requirements and challenges
of early modern play texts, Thomson provides evidence for answers that will
foster a more nuanced and thorough understanding of original performance
practices. That will, in turn, influence how we read, study, and edit the plays.
This exploration will be of great interest to theatre and performance
researchers, graduate students, teachers of early modern drama at the under-
graduate and graduate levels, performers, directors, and editors.
Leslie Thomson is a Professor Emeritus of English at the University of
Toronto, Canada.
Studies in Performance and Early Modern Drama
Series Editor: Helen Ostovich, McMaster University, Canada.
This series presents original research on theatre histories and performance
histories; the time period covered is from about 1500 to the early 18th century.
Studies in which women’s activities are a central feature of discussion are espe-
cially of interest; this may include women as financial or technical support
(patrons, musicians, dancers, seamstresses, wig-makers) or house support staff
(e.g., gatherers), rather than performance per se. We also welcome critiques of
early modern drama that take into account the production values of the plays
and rely on period records of performance.
Civic Performance
Pageantry and Entertainments in Early Modern London
Edited by J. Caitlin Finlayson and Amrita Sen
Strangeness in Jacobean Drama
Callan Davies
The Self-Centred Art
Ben Jonson’s Parts in Performance
Jakub Boguszak
Dance Lexicon in Shakespeare and His Contemporaries
A Corpus Based Approach
Fabio Ciambella
Shakespeare’s Hobby-Horse and Early Modern Popular Culture
Natália Pikli
From Playtext to Performance on the Early Modern Stage
How Did They Do It?
Leslie Thomson
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.
com/Studies-in-Performance-and-Early-Modern-Drama/book-series/
SPEMD
From Playtext to
Performance on the Early
Modern Stage
How Did They Do It?
Leslie Thomson
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Leslie Thomson
The right of Leslie Thomson to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 9781032278070 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032278094 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003294214 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003294214
Typeset in Bembo
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
To the memory of John H. Astington
(1945–2019)
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
PART I
Pre-Performance 5
1 Evidence and Theories 7
2 Rehearsal Reconsidered 66
PART II
In-Performance 77
3 Pronouns in Action 79
4 Uncued Actions 101
5 Staging Asides 117
6 Dumb Shows on Stage 131
7 Doubling and Disguise 158
8 Large Properties Off and On Stage 177
Conclusion 199
Index 202
Acknowledgements
The questions I raise in this book and their implications have preoccupied
me for some time. Parts of Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 6 originated as Shakespeare
Association of America seminar papers. In each case, the positive comments
of my fellow seminarians were much appreciated and useful. Another part
of Chapter 3 was introduced in a paper I gave at the International Marlowe
Society Conference in Wittenberg. The substance of Chapter 6 was previ-
ously published in Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England. At Routledge,
Laura Hussey was my helpful and encouraging editor, and her assistant Swati
Hindwan provided patient guidance. I am grateful to the anonymous readers
for their positive responses to my project. And a special thank you to Helen
Ostovich, general editor of the Studies in Performance and Early Modern
Drama series, for her enthusiastic support.
As I thought, wrote, and rewrote, I discussed my “how did they do it?”
questions with others, especially Alan Dessen and John Astington, who
always listened patiently and gave me excellent advice. When John died, I
lost a close friend and wise mentor; I miss him very much. Informed encour-
agement was often provided by Roslyn Knutson and Tim Fitzpatrick, who
read sections and offered practical suggestions. But always and especially, I
am most grateful to my husband, Peter Blayney, for reading and thinking
about it all. His perceptive comments and our discussions were an invaluable
influence as I wrote.
Introduction
My purposes in this book are, first, to reconsider the evidence for what we
know, or think we know, about early modern performance conditions; sec-
ond, to introduce new evidence from the plays to justify such a reconsid-
eration – or perhaps more accurately to encourage a new recognition and
treatment of certain aspects of the plays as evidence – and third, to demon-
strate the significance of the implications of that new information. Inevitably,
perhaps, many longstanding premises about early modern performance are
no longer questioned but are considered foundational, and these have, in
turn, become the bases for further premises. At the same time, newer ideas
that challenge those premises have not replaced but coexist with them. This
book is partly, therefore, an assessment of the competing narratives about the
processes involved in early modern performance: about the status of manu-
script playbooks, about the parts that players memorized, about the functions
of the bookkeeper, about casting, about prompting, and about rehearsal prac-
tices. About, that is, how, once on stage, each player knew what to do with
himself, with other players, and with props. In particular, I investigate the
bases for the interdependent beliefs that an early modern player relied almost
solely on his part to prepare for a performance, that rehearsal was minimal,
and that a bookkeeper compensated for these circumstances by prompting
any player who was “out of his part.” The most prolific and influential expo-
nent of these ideas is Tiffany Stern, so I frequently refer to and challenge her
interpretations and conclusions. Without them, however, I would not have
become aware of the problems and questions that are my concern, nor would
I have been able to formulate my ideas and counterarguments, especially
about rehearsal.
My principal reason for raising the questions I do is the presence of ele-
ments in the playtexts that have generally gone unremarked by modern
scholars. Playwrights wrote plays that included much more than just dialogue
for a player to learn and perform. Indeed, many playtexts include almost
as much that would have become apparent only when the players worked
together to bring the words to life. In particular, there are numerous actions
and gestures for which there are no cues in the dialogue of the player who is
to perform them; the only signal is a simultaneous or subsequent reference to
DOI: 10.4324/9781003294214-1
