The Performance of Disguise

Abstract

Assuming that on the early English stage there must frequently have been the need to distinguish a disguised character from a doubled character, this note considers the problems arising from time constraints and the pressures exerted upon a company's wardrobe, to make some suggestions about how disguise might have been performed. It suggests that frequently disguised identity could not have involved a change of costume as such, but must have been signalled by some kind of costume shorthand.