CONTENTS The Early Drama Inn-Yards The Theatres London Theatrical Companies Shakespeare as an Actor Court Performances Theatrical Allusions PAGE i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Interior of the Swan Theatre Froniispiece Facinp up A Stage Play in Progress at an Inn-yard 12 A Typical Inn-ard in Elizabethan Times, used by the 6 layers, 12 The Swan Theatre. From Visschers Map of London, 1616 81 The Plot of Englands Joy 86 The Rose Theatre or the First Globe Theatre 87 Frontispiece to James Howells Londinopolis, 1657, showing the position of four Lon don Theatres, circa 1600 The Second Fortune Theatre, 1621 96 133 The Red Bull Theatre I 17 Facsimile of an Admission Ticket to the Roman Coliseum 120 Ticket of Admission to the Red Bull Theatre 120 The Second Glabe Theatre, 1614, and the 221 The Pa ace of Whitehall 206 Banquetin Hall and Holbein Gate, White hall iltyard in foreground 206 Greenwich Palace in the time of Elizabeth 216 Interior of the Middle Te. m le Hall p 227 Interior of the Old Inner emple Hall 228 Facsimile of Passage in Manninghams Diary, referring to Twelfth Night 228 Interior of Grays Inn Hall Jocasta A Tragedie written in Greek by 23 Euri P ides 232 Mr. Wil iam Shakespeares Comedies, His tories, and Tragedies 233 CHAPTER I THE EARLY DRAMA T HE beginning of the English drama dates from a late period in the history of this country. Until the reign of Elizabeth, dramatic literature was really non-existent. During the Middle Ages, the religious drama held complete rl sway over the populace, producing such an abiding effect that no other kind of performance was tolerated. In England the first germs of a dramatic nature emanated from the church, chiefly in connection with the festivalat Eastertide. At this time of the year the ritual was solemnized in a highly theatrical fashion. Processions marched round the sacred edifice, various scenes from the Gospels were in troduced, accompanied by music and song. The festivals of Christmas and Corpus Christi were observed with great enthusiasm, sacred episodes taken from church history were acted with such fervour and ecstasy that the congregation remained spellbound during the service. The next development in the evolution of the dram is the representation of the liturgical ilay, written in Latin, gradually being supersede by the religious play written in the vernacular the scenes depicted consisted chiefly of episodes in connection with the Birth of the Saviour, also of events narrating the Lives of the Saints, together with other legendary characters. All these scenes were called Miracle Plays, a name by which in this country all religious dramas were known, regardless of the origin of their source. In course of time these first offshoots of the ordinary service had grown to such dimensions that it was I A SHAKESPEARE AND THE STAGE found impracticable that these spectacles should be presented inside the church, consequently, a larger space outside was deemed more convenient, but still remaining within the precincts. Even this innovation was not entirely successful, as the ground allotted for the performance was not ex tensive enough for the numerous throng that assembled on these occasions. Then a further step was taken by transferring the scene of action from the sacred precincts to the o en spaces within the town. The development of t e drama was greatly accelerated by this innovation...