Playwriting Playgoers in Shakespeare's Theater

By: Matteo A. Pangallo

Narrated by: Bob Dio

Among the dramatists who wrote for the professional playhouses of early modern London was a small group of writers who were neither members of the commercial theater industry writing to make a living nor aristocratic amateurs dipping their toes in theatrical waters for social or political prestige. Instead, they were largely working- and middle-class amateurs who had learned most of what they knew about drama from being members of the audience.

Using a range of familiar and lesser-known print and manuscript plays, as well as literary accounts and documentary evidence, Playwriting Playgoers in Shakespeare's Theater shows how these playgoers wrote and revised to address what they assumed to be the needs of actors, readers, and the Master of the Revels; how they understood playhouse materials and practices; and how they crafted poetry for theatrical effects. The book also situates them in the context of the period's concepts of, and attitudes toward, playgoers' participation in the activity of playmaking.

Plays by playgoers such as the rogue East India Company clerk Walter Mountfort or the highwayman John Clavell invite us into the creative imaginations of spectators, revealing what certain audience members wanted to see and how they thought actors might stage it. By reading Shakespeare's theater through these playgoers' works, Matteo Pangallo contributes a new category of evidence to our understanding of the relationships between the early modern stage, its plays, and its audiences.

The book is published by University of Pennsylvania Press. The audiobook will be published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2017 University of Pennsylvania Press (P)2018 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"An extremely substantial contribution to the field." (Lucy Munro, King's College London)

Interesting to Apply

Interesting to apply and study. Very thorough, definitely written for non-believers. Couldn't help but to heavily day-dream towards the end though.

Excellent Book, Awful Narrator

I was excited when I started listening but was quickly disappointed by the narrator. The book itself is very interesting, but the narrator has chosen to use various affected, "posh," fake British accents for the quotes. It completely effaces the scholarly tone of the research. I couldn't finish listening. Time to find the book in a library, since I did look forward to hearing Dr. Pangallo's exploration of the topic.

What am I listening to?

This has been one of the most painful listens I've suffered through in quite awhile. I've listened for over 4 hours and I just can't anymore. It's sad. I buy and read every book in Audible that relates to Shakespeare and this book makes me feel like I'm an idiot. Perhaps it's the speedreading narrator...? Oh. for a Simon Vance or Neville Jason to read this book would have made such a difference. I'm afraid I have to stop. I won't return it, (because I've also purchased the hardcover edition thinking this would be a very important addition to my Shakespearean library) but I just can't anymore. What a great dissapointment. Authors...your narrators can make or break your book. Take heed. This one is is an utter disappointment.