A collection of interdisciplinary essays on the 'theatrical' in Renaissance London.

Oddey questions the role of the spectator and director, and the nature of art works and performance. She provocatively demonstrates the spectator as centre of the artistic experience, a new kind of making theatre-art, revealing its spirit and nature; searching for space and contemplation in a hectic twenty-first century landscape.

Theatrical Events. Borders, Dynamics and Frames is written to develop the concept of ‘Eventness’ in Theatre Studies. The book as a whole stresses the importance of understanding theatre performances as aesthetic-communicative encounters of a wide range of agents and aspects. The Theatrical Event concept means not only that performers and spectators meet, but also that the specific mental sets, backgrounds and cultural contexts they bring in, strongly contribute to the character of a particular event. Moreover, this concept gives space to the study of the role societal developments – such as technological, political, economical or educational ones – play in theatrical events.

“This book may be just the antidote for an actor who has completely lost faith or given up control over his destiny.” – Backstage West, Los Angeles “If this book is any indication of things to come, we are going to be hearing a lot about Monroe Mann.” – Bob Fraser, Emmy-recognized actor, producer, writer, and director, and author of You Must Act “A how-to for aspiring stars based on boot-camp persistence.” – CNN’s Wolf Blitzer “To make it big, you need the Real Deal. Mr. Mann is the Real Deal.” – Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the Guerrilla Marketing series of books This book is unlike any other you will read on the subject of acting. It is not about how to find good headshots, how to perfect a monologue, or how to find an agent, though these subjects are indirectly touched upon. It’s about how to succeed in the arts. It's about why 99% of aspiring professional actors fail to even get their foot in the door, and how the other 1% somehow do get their foot in the door... and actually stay there. Once and for all, this book aims to shatter the absurd notion that acting professionally is a privilege for only a select few, and that without a 'break' given by the industry, there is no hope for success. The blame for your failure (and the credit for your success) can only be put on yourself, and not the business. Forget the nay-sayers; wave goodbye to the critics; laugh at the agents who won't respond to you. The Theatrical Juggernaut is going to inspire you like no other 'how-to' book has ever done before.

This volume celebrates Thomas Middleton’s legacy as a dramatist, marking the 400th anniversary of Middleton’s final and most contentious work for the public theatres, A Game at Chess (1624). The collection is divided into three sections: ‘Critical and Textual Reception’, ‘Afterlives and Legacies’, and ‘Practice and Performance’. This division reflects the book’s holistic approach to Middleton’s canon, and its emphasis on the continuing significance of Middleton’s writing to the study of early modern English drama. Each section offers an assessment of the place of Middleton’s drama in culture, criticism, and education today through a range of critical approaches. Featuring work from a range of voices (from early career, independent, and seasoned academics and practitioners), the collection will be appropriate for both specialists in early modern literature and drama who are interested in both theory and practice, and students or scholars researching Middleton’s historical significance to the study of early theatre.

Theatrical Milton brings coherence to the presence of theatre in John Milton through the concept of theatricality. In this book, 'theatricality' identifies a discursive field entailing the rhetorical strategies and effects of framing a given human action, including speech and writing, as an act of theatre. Political and theological cultures in seventeenth-century England developed a treasury of representational resources in order to stage-to satirize and, above all, to de-legitimate-rhetors of politics, religion, and print. At the core of Milton's works is a contradictory relation to theatre that has neither been explained nor properly explored. This book changes the terms of scholarly discussion and discovers how the social structures of theatre afforded Milton resources for poetic and polemical representation and uncovers the precise contours of Milton's interest in theatre and drama.