Recovering a crucial grammar of theatrical representation, this book argues that the onstage embodiment of characters-not just the words written for them to speak-forms an important and overlooked aspect of stage representation.

This book challenges the narrative of Shakespeare's 'bare' stage by looking at the 'ground zero' of early modern theatrical representation: the painted body of the actor. It questions the boundaries of the period categories 'mediaeval' and 'early modern' by demonstrating important continuities in theatrical labour and theatrical materials from mediaeval cycle drama through to the popular and courtly drama of the 1630s.