Repertory by Genre at Lisle's Tennis Court
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A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX LANA MARIE HARPER PHD ENGLISH THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY ENGLISH PLAYHOUSES, 1560-1670 I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be submitted in whole or in part to another university for the award of any other degree Signature: Lana M Harper Abstract This thesis presents a study of playhouse spaces and the theatre industry in early modern England, and how they developed from 1560-1670. The period considered spans the English civil wars and Commonwealth to complicate the notion of a cessation of theatrical activity in 1642, and argues against the division of theatre history into distinct Renaissance and Restoration periods. The study builds on recent scholarly trends which have productively read early modern playing companies as consistent cultural entities with individual identities, by extending and applying this methodology to playhouse spaces. As such, this thesis proposes that all early modern playhouses had unique identities, and suggests that the frequent division into amphitheatre and indoor playhouses can produce an oversimplified binary with homogenising consequences. Moreover, it argues that a problematic, undertheorized hierarchy of playhouses exists; a key factor being the strength of the playhouse’s connection to Shakespeare, which has led to the prioritisation of the Globe in particular. This thesis problematises the metrics which have been used to assess the importance of playhouses; it offers alternative factors but also suggests it is more important to ascertain unique aspects of playhouse identities than to create a hierarchy between them. Case studies of the Curtain (c.1577-c.1625), Salisbury Court (1629-1666) and Gibbons’ Tennis Court (1653-c.1669) demonstrate how distinct aspects of playhouses’ identities can be established by proposing dimensions of their unique reputations based on their known repertories. Collectively, these studies also demonstrate how playhouse space developed over time. This study concludes that each of these playhouses have been undervalued in scholarly narratives. By producing substantial accounts of these neglected spaces this thesis contributes towards a rebalancing of emphasis in early modern scholarship, and it also demonstrates that a wider reappraisal of early modern playhouse space is necessary in the future. 1 Acknowledgements I owe a debt of gratitude to an enormous number of people and institutions, without whom this thesis would not have been possible. I am grateful to the AHRC for funding my research, and to the University of Sussex library, the British Library, the Bodleian Library and Shakespeare’s Globe library for allowing me to access their collections. Thanks to everyone at MOLA for allowing me to view their excavation of the Curtain, and especially to Julian Bowsher for sharing his thoughts on the playhouse so extensively with me. Thank you also to Eva Griffith for her encouragement, generosity and inspiring work. Staff at the University of Sussex Doctoral School have made the experience far more rewarding with their workshops and guidance; my particular thanks to Catherine Pope and Liz Sage for Thesis Boot Camp, during which a significant percentage of the first draft of this thesis was written. Working at Shakespeare’s Globe kindled my interest in this topic, and I am deeply grateful to many of my colleagues there for their friendship and support when I needed it most. Ruth Frendo and Derek Dunne lent their expert eyes to the funding proposal for this research, without which it may never have happened. Kim Gilchrist has been an extraordinary and generous friend ever since then, and is one of the most inspiring and passionate researchers I have met. Thank you for bringing me on board to set up Shakesposium, and thank you to everyone who has attended it for their ideas, energy and helping to create such a lovely community. The Centre of Early Modern and Medieval Studies at the University of Sussex has made me welcome for many years, so thank you to all members of the centre. Without Margaret Healy and Mat Dimmock’s teaching and encouragement as an undergraduate I would not have continued studying the early modern period. Duncan Fraser very generously proofread this thesis in a questionable timeframe and with inimitable attention to detail. In particular, of course, thank you to my supervisor Andrew Hadfield for originally encouraging me to pursue a PhD, his geniality and patience throughout, and the shamefully long loan of much of his personal library. I am also extremely grateful to my colleagues and friends at Sussex for their friendship, support, kindness, ideas, enthusiasm, proofreading skills, and in many cases for finally providing the drunken late-night conversations about poetry and philosophy I have always dreamed of. In particular, thank you to Shanyn Altman, Simon Davies, Laura Fox Gill, Tom Houlton, Nicole Mennell, Anthony O’Shea, Joe Ronan, Mike Rowland, Dominic Walker, 2 Kiron Ward, Pei Yun, and especially Ross Owens - meeting you has been the most wonderful and unexpected part of writing this PhD. This thesis would not have happened without help from some extraordinary people who I love dearly. Dad – thank you for encouraging me while doing something so weird, and for helping to keep me sane with the running. Now there’s more time I can’t wait to do more with you next year. Maureen was a role model and a generous, artistic and intelligent person. It’s no exaggeration to say that her publishing a book was the thing that made me want to write one too. Her delight at the idea of me writing this thesis has never been forgotten – she probably would even have wanted to read it. Adam has lived with this thesis for almost as long as I have, and I know that it, and I, have not always been easy. Thank you for your support, especially these last few months, for sharing your coffee addiction with me, and for teaching me everything I needed to know about pigs. I’m looking forward to the rest of the adventure. Mum has been there throughout the PhD and before, even when that meant tolerating my more challenging moments. It’s impossible to overstate what you’ve done to get me to this point. Neither the thesis nor any of the rest of it would have happened without you – thank you for it all. Kirsty challenges me almost every time I speak to her, and her achievements and drive are – ironically – infectious. I doubt I could have finished this without her support. Thank you for your optimism, your love, the spot on your floor, and for pushing me harder than anyone: I love it. Here’s to Drs2. Finally, Jack was an extraordinary person who was sunny, compassionate, and endlessly enthusiastic. He made life exciting, and everything seem achievable. I miss him, and it is to Jack and Kirsty that this work is dedicated. 3 Table of Contents Abstract p.1 Acknowledgements p.2 Table of Contents p.4 List of Illustrations and Abbreviations p.6 Note on Texts p.8 Introduction 1. Resurgence and continuity in the English theatrical tradition p.9 2. Playhouse identity, space and repertory p.11 Chapter 1 Interpreting Playhouse Development in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 1. The Canonisation of Playhouse Space p.15 2. Assessing the Importance of an Early Modern Playhouse p.32 3. Outdoor and Indoor Public Playhouses p.46 Chapter 2 Theatrical Traditions and Performance Venues during the Commonwealth and Restoration p.53 1. The English Tradition of Interrupted and Illicit Playing p.56 2. The Continuation of English Theatrical Traditions 1642-1660 p.69 Chapter 3 Case study: The Curtain p.83 1. Factual overview and existing scholarship p.84 2. Reinterpreting the evidence and reassessing the Curtain’s importance p.89 3. Clowning, jigging and Thomas Greene at the Curtain p.106 4. Nationalism and xenophobia in the Curtain repertory p.111 5. Conclusion p.121 Chapter 4 Case study: Salisbury Court p.122 1. Factual overview p.123 2. Existing scholarship and position in theatre history narratives p.131 3. Salisbury Court after 1642 p.142 4. Topographical comedy in Salisbury Court’s pre-war repertory p.145 5. Conclusion p.160 4 Chapter 5 Case study: Gibbons’ Tennis Court Theatre p.161 1. Factual overview p.162 2. Existing scholarship and position in theatre history narratives p.166 3. Repertory at Gibbons’ Tennis Court Theatre p.178 4. Legacy and influence on English theatre tradition p.199 5. Conclusion p.205 Conclusion: The Development of Early English Playhouses p.206 Bibliography p.209 Appendix 1 – Plays performed at The Curtain p.225 Appendix 2 – Plays performed at Gibbons’ Tennis Court Theatre p.227 5 List of illustrations Figure 1. Graph to show the number of years early modern playhouses operated for, according to conventional scholarly definition and with venues of the same name considered separately. p.35. Figure 2. Graph to show the number of years early modern playhouses operated for, according to conventional scholarly definition and with venues of the same name considered as one. p.37. Figure 3. Graph to show number of years early modern playhouses operated from first to last recorded performance.