Description: Concentrating on performance, Thomson reviews the commercial and artistic priorities of Shakespeare and the brilliant and hardheaded group of actors who formed his company during the heyday of the Globe Playhouse, from 1599 to 1608.
Review Quotes:
`This is a model introduction to the formation, structure and development of the Lord Chamberlain's Men which is utilized to provide instructive critical readings of Twelfth Night, Macbeth and Hamlet.' - Years Work in English Studies
Reviews of the First Edition `Valuable and enjoyable reading for all studying Shakespeare's plays.' - Times Higher Education Supplement `Following in the pattern established by John Russell Brown for the excellent series (Theatre and Production Studies), he provides first an account of Shakespeare's company, then a study of three individual plays Twelfth Night, Hamlet and Macbeth as performed by the company. Peter Thomson writes in a crisp, sharp, enlivening style.' - Times Literary Supplement `... the best analysis yet of Elizabethan acting practices, excavated from the texts themselves rather than reconstructed on basis of one monolithic theory, and an essay on Hamlet that is a model of critical intelligence and theatrical invention.' - Yearbook of English Studies `Synthesizes the important facts and summarizes projects with a vigorous prose style, and expertly applies his experience in both practical drama and academic teaching to his discussion.' - Review of English Studies