Antonfrancesco Grazzini’s plays, La Spiritata (The Possessed Girl) and La Strega (The Witch), are available in English for the first time, with notes and an “Introduction.” These plays deal with witchcraft, superstition, sexuality, and abortion. The context for such themes is analyzed in the “Introduction.” Grazzini enhanced literary drama with elements from popular performances. He influenced other playwrights, including in England, where The Possessed Girl was adapted as the Elizabethan comedy, The Bugbears. Writer and linguist John Florio used Grazzini’s plays in his lexicon of Italian for English learners. Grazzini celebrated artistic and popular traditions of Renaissance Florence; he is significant for writing and preserving many literary genres, especially the burlesque and carnivalesque. He participated in Florentine spectacle and theater, as a writer of plays, a composer of interludes, and a chronicler of festive events. His importance to the development of the Italian language is evident in his plays.

A study of Antonfrancesco Grazzini's place in theater history, revealing his experiments with performance technique, sexual themes, and varied linguistic registers. Grazzini celebrates the artistic and popular traditions of Renaissance Florence.

"Antonfrancesco Grazzini's plays, La Spiritata (The Possessed Girl) and La Strega (The Witch), are available in English for the first time, with notes and an "Introduction." These plays deal with witchcraft, superstition, sexuality, and abortion. The context for such themes is analyzed in the "Introduction." Grazzini enhanced literary drama with elements from popular performance. He influenced other playwrights, including in England, where The Possessed Girl was adapted as the Elizabethan comedy, The Bugbears. Writer and linguist John Florio used Grazzini's plays in his lexicon of Italian for English learners. Grazzini celebrated artistic and popular traditions of Renaissance Florence; he is significant for writing and preserving many literary genres, especially the burlesque and carnivalesque. He participated in Florentine spectacle and theater, as a writer of plays, a composer of interludes, and a chronicler of festive events. His importance to the development the Italian language is evident in his plays"--