The Cambridge History of British Theatre
3 Volume Hardback Set

Table of Contents

Volume 1. Origins to 1660: General preface
Chronology
Part I. Pre-Elizabethan Theatre:
1. From Roman to Renaissance in drama and theatre
2. Faith, pastime, performance and drama in Scotland to 1603
3. The Bible as play in Reformation England
4. Drama in 1553: continuity and change
Part II. Elizabethan Theatre:
5. The development of a professional theatre, 1540–1660
6. Drama outside London after 1540
7. 'An example of courtesy and liberality': great households and performance
8. The birth of an industry
9. Theatre and controversy, 1572–1603
10. The condition of theatre in England in 1599
11. Ben Jonson's Every Man in His Humour: a case study
12. London professional playhouses and performances
Part III. Jacobean and Caroline Theatre:
13. Working playwrights, 1580–1642
14. Theatre and controversy, 1603–42
15. The Stuart masque and its makers
16. Clowns, fools and knaves: stages in the evolution of acting
17. Thomas Middleton's A Game at Chess: a case study
18. The condition of the theatres in 1642
19. Theatre and Commonwealth
Works cited
Index. Volume 2. 1660–1895: Preface and acknowledgements
Timeline:
1660 to 1894
Part I. 1660–1800:
1. Introduction: the theatre from 1660 to 1800
2. Theatres and repertory
3. Theatre and the female presence
4. Theatre, politics and morality
5. Theatre companies and regulation
6. The Beggar's Opera: a case study
7. Garrick at Drury Lane, 1747–76
8. Theatre outside London, 1660–1775
9. 1776: a critical year in perspective
10. The theatrical revolution, 1776–1843
Part II. 1800 to 1895:
11. Introduction: the theatre from 1800 to 1895
12. Presence, personality and physicality: actors and their repertoires, 1776–1895
13. Theatres, their architecture and their audiences
14. Stage design from Loutherbourg to Poel
15. Theatre and mid-Victorian society, 1851–1870
16. Gendering Victorian theatre
17. Popular entertainment, 1776–1895
18. The Bells: a case study
a 'bare-ribbed skeleton' in a chest
19. The new drama and the old theatre
20. 1895: a critical year in perspective
Bibliography of works cited
Index. Volume 3. Since 1895: Acknowledgements
Chronology
List of illustrations
Part I. 1895–1946:
1. British theatre, 1895–1946: art, entertainment, audiences – an introduction
2. The London stage, 1895–1918
3. Provincial stages, 1900–1934: touring and early repertory theatre
4. Popular theatre, 1896–1940
5. Case study: Cicely Hamilton's Diana of Dobson's, 1908
6. A critical year in perspective:
1926
7. The London stage, 1918–45
8. Social commitment and aesthetic innovation, 1895–1946
PART II. Scottish and Welsh Theatres, 1895–2002:
9. Towards national identities: theatre in Scotland
10. Case study: Ena Lamont Stewart's Men Should Weep, 1947
11. Towards national identities: Welsh theatres
12. Case study: refashioning a myth, performances of the tale of Blodeuwedd
Part III. 1940–2002:
13. British theatre, 1940–2002: an introduction
14. The establishment of mainstream theatre, 1946–79
15. Alternative theatres, 1946–2000
16. Developments in the profession of theatre, 1946–2000
17. Case study: Theatre Workshop's Oh What a Lovely War, 1963
18. 1979 and after: a view
19. British theatre and commerce, 1979–2000
20. New theatre for new times: decentralisation, innovation and pluralism, 1975–2000
21. Theatre in Scotland in the 1990s and beyond
22. Theatre in Wales in the 1990s and beyond
23. English theatre in the 1990s and beyond
Bibliography
Index.

Look Inside

• Index (449 KB)
• Front Matter (343 KB)
• Marketing Excerpt (187 KB)
• Table of Contents (104 KB)
• Copyright Information Page (99 KB)