Plays and Performing in Early Modern South Wales

Abstract

Although the evidence for dramatic performance in early South Wales is spotty at best, the surviving records (forthcoming in Records of Early Drama: Wales) do allow tentative answers to several crucial questions. The geographical situation of linguistic communities strongly implies that performances took place in both English and Welsh, though the evidence for Welsh-language plays is much less clear than in North Wales. Performances of both sacred and secular material were given by both professional and non-professional groups. Professional groups appeared, at least in the documented cases, under municipal auspices, while non-professional groups used their performances for fundraising purposes. What slim evidence does survive for travelling professional companies suggests that they were more likely to travel to Wales by sea than by road.