John Rastell’s London Stage: Reconstructing Repertory and Collaborative Practice

Abstract

The study of repertory has greatly illuminated practices among playwrights and playing companies in the later sixteenth century. The repertory approach has yet to be applied to early and mid-Tudor drama, although this method holds out the promise of recovering the collaborative practices connected with John Rastell's stage -- the first public stage in London. This article urges scholars active in repertory studies to take a fresh look at Henrician drama and theatrical practices, and employs Heywood and Rastell's play Gentylnes and Nobylyte as a case study in the forces that shape repertory in this earlier period.