Volume 4 covers the years 1598-1602 during which dramatic satire emerged, as well as the opening of the original Globe theatre in London.

Volume 3 covers the years 1590-1597 and sees the start of Shakespeare's career as a dramatist.

Reading Drama in Tudor England is about the print invention of drama as a category of text designed for readerly consumption. Arguing that plays were made legible by the printed paratexts that accompanied them, it shows that by the middle of the sixteenth century it was possible to market a play for leisure-time reading. Offering a detailed analysis of such features as title-pages, character lists, and other paratextual front matter, it suggests that even before the establishment of successful permanent playhouses, playbooks adopted recognisable conventions that not only announced their categorical status and genre but also suggested appropriate forms of use. As well as a survey of implied reading practices, this study is also about the historical owners and readers of plays. Examining the marks of use that survive in copies of early printed plays, it explores the habits of compilation and annotation that reflect the striking and often unpredictable uses to which early owners subjected their playbooks.

Explores Shakespeare's plays in their most immediate context: the hundreds of plays known to original audiences, but lost to us.

This book provides theater professionals and scholars interested in the drama of Shakespeare's era with essential information about the performance and printing history of English plays from Everyman --generally considered the first printed play in English -- to the Restoration in 1660. Information about each play is presented in a single arranged alphabetically entry and includes the name of the play, author, date of first production (when known), acting company, and theater. In cases of multiple stagings, each is recorded. Where documentary evidence is lacking, an estimate of date and auspices is given along with a scholarly source. Information about staging is followed by an account of all the printed editions. This comprehensive study also provides numerous details unique to each play including specific theatrical effects, printed format, illustrations, and more.