Early Theatre https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre <p><em>Early Theatre</em> publishes original, peer-reviewed research on medieval and early modern drama and theatre history. Please click the <strong>About </strong>tab, above, to find out more about our focus and scope, editorial team, support for authors, copyright and green open access policies, and more.</p> en-US <p>Contributors to <em>Early Theatre </em>retain full copyright to their content. All published authors are required to grant a limited exclusive license to the journal. According to the terms of this license, authors agree that for one year following publication in <em>Early Theatre</em>, they will not publish their submission elsewhere in the same form, in any language, without the consent of the journal, and without acknowledgment of its initial publication in the journal thereafter.</p> earlytheatre@mcmaster.ca (The Editors) Wed, 26 Jun 2024 18:22:28 +0000 OJS 3.3.0.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 Bringing ‘Such Matters Upon the Stage’: Women Exemplars in A Warning for Fair Women (1599) and Golding’s A Briefe Discourse (1573) https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5514 <p>This essay argues that the unnamed playwright of the 1599 tragedy <em>A Warning for Fair Women</em> adapts Arthur Golding’s 1573 (rpt 1577) pamphlet to reshape the heroine from a negative example of adultery and the beneficiary of church-induced repentance into a positive model of motherhood and spiritual agency aided by another woman. Missing from Golding’s account, the play’s main source and the fount of subsequent reportage on the murder of George Sanders, is attention to women’s spiritual agency and their friendship. I compare the play and source text to argue that the playwright’s emendations of Golding’s material omit or minimize certain elements, including the moralizing tone, to advance a more positive view of women than critics have recognized.</p> Ann C. Christensen Copyright (c) 2024 Ann C. Christensen https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5514 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 The Queen in Shakespeare’s Q1 Hamlet https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5549 <p>Although long maligned, the 1603 first quarto of Shakespeare’s<em> Hamlet</em> (Q1) portrays a strong queen and mother figure in Gertred, specifically in a scene that is unique to this version of the play. While some grant that Gertred may be a more sympathetic character than her counterpart Gertrard in the second quarto (Q2) or Gertrude in the Folio (F), critics generally neglect the Q1-only scene involving her and Horatio, finding it repetitious and dull. This essay’s close reading of this scene shows that Gertred excels at diplomatic intrigue, building strategic alliances through a distinctive politics of motherhood.</p> Joshua R. Held Copyright (c) 2024 Joshua R. Held https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5549 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 The Politics of Sport: John Day's The Isle of Gulls https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5001 <p>This article explores three scenes in John Day’s understudied satiric drama <em>The Isle of Gulls</em>, reading the royal hunt, game of bowls, and double jest as examples of a cultural phenomenon that disguises politics as recreation. </p> Alexandra Finn-Atkins Copyright (c) 2024 Alexandra Finn-Atkins https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5001 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Chaste, Fair, and Bountiful: Marston, Fletcher, and the Countess of Huntingdon’s Patronage https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5421 <p>This essay uncovers the influences of Elizabeth Stanley Hastings, countess of Huntingdon (1588-1633), on household and commercial drama. John Marston’s Ashby entertainment (1607) and John Fletcher’s <em>The Faithful Shepherdess</em> (ca 1608) show how Huntingdon drew upon family tradition and conventional ideals of beauty to facilitate her rise as a patron. A focus on patronage reveals these plays’ shared emphasis on feminine authority within traditional roles. More broadly, this essay urges scholars to reconceive women patrons as co-makers of plays and value their important contributions to theatrical production.</p> Elizabeth Zeman Kolkovich Copyright (c) 2024 Elizabeth Zeman Kolkovich https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5421 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 The Elder Brother, Virgil’s De apibus, and the Chronology of the Plays in the Canon of John Fletcher and His Collaborators, 1617–20 https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5677 <p>This article argues that John Brinsley's 1620 translation of Virgil's <em>Georgics</em>, Book IV, is a source for John Fletcher and Philip Massinger's <em>The Elder Brother</em>. This contention results in dating the play to 1620 rather than 1618 as suggested by Martin Wiggins. The re-dating has consequences for the dating of other plays in the canon of Fletcher and his collaborators for the period 1617 to 1620, and I propose a new chronology for the Fletcher plays in this time span.</p> Domenico Lovascio Copyright (c) 2024 Domenico Lovascio https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5677 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Editorial https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5800 <p>This editorial for issue 27.1 (June 2024) of Early Theatre offers news and information to readers.</p> Erin E. Kelly Copyright (c) 2024 Erin E. Kelly https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5800 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Noémie Ndiaye. Scripts of Blackness: Early Modern Performance Culture and the Making of Race. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022, and Emily Weissbourd. Bad Blood: Staging Race Between Early Modern England and Spain. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5790 <p>This review considers Noémie Ndiaye, Scripts of Blackness: <em>Early Modern Performance Culture and the Making of Race</em>, and Emily Weissbourd, <em>Bad Blood: Staging Race Between Early Modern England and Spain</em>. </p> Bernadette Andrea Copyright (c) 2024 Bernadette Andrea https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5790 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Vanessa I. Corredera. Reanimating Shakespeare’s Othello in Post-Racial America. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5787 <p>This review considers Vanessa I Corredera's <em>Reanimating Shakespeare’s Othello in Post-Racial America.</em></p> Alexa Alice Joubin Copyright (c) 2024 Alexa Alice Joubin https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5787 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Cristina Paravano. Massinger’s Italy: Re-Imagining Italian Culture in the Plays of Philip Massinger. New York: Routledge, 2023. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5795 <p>This review considers Cristina Paravano's <em>Massinger’s Italy: Re-Imagining Italian Culture in the Plays of Philip Massinger</em>.</p> Domenico Lovascio Copyright (c) 2024 Domenico Lovascio https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5795 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Chris Laoutaris. Shakespeare’s Book: The Intertwined Lives Behind the First Folio. London: William Collins, 2023. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5792 <p>This review considers <span lang="EN-CA">Chris Laoutaris's <em>Shakespeare’s Book: The Intertwined Lives Behind the First Folio</em></span><span lang="EN-CA">.</span></p> Lucy Munro Copyright (c) 2024 Lucy Munro https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5792 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Hannah August. Playbooks and Their Readers in Early Modern England. New York and London: Routledge, 2022. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5794 <p>This review considers Hannah August's <em>Playbooks and their Readers in Early Modern England</em>.</p> Laura Estill Copyright (c) 2024 Laura Estill https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5794 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Callan Davies. What Is a Playhouse? England at Play, 1520-1620. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2023. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5788 <p>This review considers Callan Davies's <em>What Is a Playhouse? England at Play, 1520-1620.</em></p> Christopher Highley Copyright (c) 2024 Christopher Highley https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5788 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Harry R. McCarthy. Performing Early Modern Drama Beyond Shakespeare: Edward’s Boys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5798 <p>This review considers Harry R. McCarthy's <em>Performing Early Modern Drama Beyond Shakespeare: Edward’s Boys</em>.</p> Roberta Barker Copyright (c) 2024 Roberta Barker https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5798 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Simon Smith and Emma Whipday, eds. Playing and Playgoing in Early Modern England: Actor, Audience and Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5791 <p>This review considers Simon Smith and Emma Whipday's <em>Playing and Playgoing in Early Modern England: Actor, Audience and Performance</em>.</p> David McInnis Copyright (c) 2024 David McInnis https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5791 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Sophie Tomlinson, ed. The Family of Love by Lording Barry. Manchester: Manchester University Press, The Revels Plays, 2022. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5796 <p>This review considers Sophie Tolimlinson's edition of <em>The Family of Love</em> by Lording Barry.</p> William David Green Copyright (c) 2024 William David Green https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5796 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Katherine Gillen, Adrianna M. Santos, and Kathryn Vomero Santos, eds. The Bard in the Borderlands: An Anthology of Shakespeare Appropriations of Shakespeare / Appropriations en La Frontera. Vol. 1. ACMRS Press. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2023. https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5797 <p>This review considers <em>The Bard in the Borderlands: An Anthology of Shakespeare Appropriations of Shakespeare / Appropriations en La Frontera </em>edited by Katherine Gillen, Adrianna M. Santos, and Kathryn Vomero Santos.</p> Carol Mejia LaPerle Copyright (c) 2024 Carol Mejia LaPerle https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/5797 Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000