Restoration Staging, 1660-74 (Studies in Performance and Early Modern Drama)

By: Tim Keenan

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Synopsis: Restoration Staging 1660–74 cuts through prevalent ideas of Restoration theatre and drama to read early plays in their original theatrical contexts. Tim Keenan argues that Restoration play texts contain far more information about their own performance than previously imagined. Focusing on specific productions and physical staging at the three theatres operating in the first years of the Restoration – Vere Street, Bridges Street and Lincoln’s Inn Fields – Keenan analyses stage directions, scene headings and other performance clues embedded in the play-texts themselves. These close readings shed new light on staging practices of the period, building a radical new model of early Restoration staging. Restoration Staging, 1660–74 takes account of all extant new plays written for or premiered at three of London’s early theatres, presenting a much-needed reassessment of early Restoration drama.