Includes bibliographical references (pages 272-282) and index.
Contents:
Introduction -- 'Improbable fictions': Shakespeare's plays without the plays -- Versatility and verisimilitude on sixteenth-century stages -- Doubling in The Winter's Tale -- Dramaturgical directives and Shakespeare's cast size -- Doubling in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet -- 'What, are they children?': Reconsidering Shakespeare's 'boy' actors -- Doubling in Twelfth Night and Othello -- Epilogue: Ragozine and Shakespearean substitution -- Appendix: Doubling roles in Shakespeare's plays.
Summary:
"Presenting the first comprehensive study of how Shakespeare designed his plays to suit his playing company, Brett Gamboa demonstrates how Shakespeare turned his limitations to creative advantage, and how doubling roles suited his unique sense of the dramatic. By attending closely to their dramaturgical structures, Gamboa analyses casting requirements for all the plays Shakespeare wrote for the company between 1594-1610, and describes how using the embedded casting patterns can enhance their thematic and theatrical potential. Drawing on historical records, dramatic theory and contemporary performance this innovative work questions received ideas about early modern staging and provides scholars and contemporary theatre practitioners with a valuable guide to understanding how casting can be exploited to facilitate audience engagement. Supported by an appendix of speculative doubling charts for plays, illustrations and online resources, this is a major contribution to the understanding of Shakespeare's dramatic craft"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.