Eubanks Winkler and Schoch reveal how – and why – the first generation to stage Shakespeare after Shakespeare's lifetime changed absolutely everything. Founder of the Duke's Company, Sir William Davenant influenced how Shakespeare was performed in a profound and lasting way. This open access book provides the first performance-based account of Restoration Shakespeare, exploring the precursors to Davenant's approach to Restoration Shakespeare, the cultural context of Restoration theatre, the theatre spaces in which the Duke's Company performed, Davenant's adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, acting styles, and the lasting legacy of Davenant's approach to staging Shakespeare. The eBook editions of this work are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Queen's University Belfast.

"Winkler and Schoch reveals how - and why - the first generation to stage Shakespeare after Shakespeare's lifetime changed absolutely everything. As leader of the Duke's Company, Davenant's influence on its approach to Shakespeare was profound and lasting. This book provides the first performance-based account of Restoration Shakespeare, exploring the precursors to Davenant's approach to Restoration Shakespeare, the cultural context of Restoration theatre, the theatre spaces in which the Duke's Company performed, Davenant's adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, acting styles, and the lasting legacy of Davenant's approach to staging Shakespeare"--

Fourteen specially commissioned essays provide essential information about staging, playwrights, themes and genres in the drama of the Restoration.

This is a book intended to bring together all the theatrical figures buried and/or memorialised in Westminster Abbey. Most of them are in Poets’ Corner and the South Transept, but there are others dotted elsewhere around the Abbey and particularly in the Cloisters where Aphra Behn, the playwright, and most of the actresses are congregated. A major feature of the book is the spectacular collection of illustrations in the form of photographs of the monuments from the Abbey archive and portraits kindly provided by the Garrick Club. The text incorporates brief descriptions of the characters interspersed with a variety of more or less relevant (some completely irrelevant, but entertaining) anecdotes.

Sir William Davenant (1606–1668) – Poet Laureate and Civil War hero – is one of the most influential and neglected figures in the history of British theatre. He introduced 'opera', actresses, scenes and the proscenium arch to the English stage. Narrowly escaping execution for his Royalist activities during the Civil War, he revived theatrical performances in London, right under Oliver Cromwell's nose. Nobody, perhaps, did more to secure Shakespeare's reputation or to preserve the memory of the Bard. Davenant was known to boast over a glass of wine that he wrote 'with the very spirit' of Shakespeare and was happy to be thought of as Shakespeare's son. By recounting the story of his eventful life backwards, through his many trials and triumphs, this biography culminates with a fresh examination of the vexed issue of Davenant's paternity. Was Sir William's mother the voluptuous and maddening 'Dark Lady' of Shakespeare's Sonnets, and was he Shakespeare's 'lovely boy'?