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Description of  Shakespeare's Medieval Craft: Remnants of the Mysteries on the London Stage

0801452902 pdf In Shakespeares Medieval Craft, Kurt A. Schreyer explores the relationship between Shakespeares plays and a tradition of late medieval English biblical drama known as mystery plays. Scholars of English theater have long debated Shakespeares connection to the mystery play tradition, but Schreyer provides new perspective on the subject by focusing on the Chester Banns, a sixteenth-century proclamation announcing the annual performance of that citys cycle of mystery plays. Through close study of the Banns, Schreyer demonstrates the central importance of medieval stage objectsas vital and direct agents and not merely as precursorsto the Shakespearean stage. As Schreyer shows, the Chester Banns serve as a paradigm for how Shakespeares theater might have reflected on and incorporated the mystery play tradition, yet distinguished itself from it. For instance, he demonstrates that certain material features of Shakespeares stageincluding the asss head of Read more