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Popular Theatre in Early Modern England, Germany and Italy (1570–1640)

A Study in Incultural Theatricality with an Analysis of ‘Engelische Comedien und Tragedien’ (1620)

Pan, Caterina

Wissenschaft und Kunst, Bd. 38

2023

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Abstract

This study explores the influence of English and Italian itinerant companies on early modern German theatre. A central aspect that mediated this intercultural adaptation is ‘popular culture’, i.e. a network of shared knowledge, which was successfully employed by the English Comedians to meet and shape the taste of their audiences. The analysis of the first and most important collection of playtexts attributed to them, “Engelische Comedien und Tragedien” (1620), according to four parameters (‘Memorialisation’, ‘Hybridisation’, ‘Adaptation’,’ Visualisation’) shows clear influences both from Elizabethan drama and Commedia dell’Arte and offers an innovative transversal perspective on the development of early modern popular theatre in Germany and Austria as a Product of intercultural theatricality.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Zwischenüberschrift Seite Aktion Preis
Cover C
Title Page III
Imprint IV
Acknowledgements VII
Contents IX
Introduction 1
1. Theoretical Framework 15
1.1. Early Modern 'Popular' Culture and Theatre – A Definition 17
1.2. Adaptation as Intercultural Process in the Renaissance 23
1.3. Intercultural Theatricality: Inter-Theatricality, Recognition and Reader-Response Theory 29
2. Early Theatricality in-between Popular Orality and Erudite Literacy 33
2.1. Ritual and Lay Theatre: Mummers' Plays, Mysteries, Morality Plays and Interludes 37
2.2. Fools and Clowns from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance 44
2.3. Tradition and Innovation in the Emerging Professional Theatre 50
3. Commedia dell'Arte in Italy and Northern Europe 55
3.1. The Art: Origins and Maturation 60
3.2. The Skills: Masks and Characters 64
3.3. The Trade: Troupes, Actors and Repertoire 75
4. Elizabethan Theatre and the Italianate Influence 85
4.1. Professional Companies: From Courtly Patronage to Public Entertainment 88
4.2. The Making of a Play: Italian and English Parallels 93
4.3. Shakespeare and Commedia dell'Arte – A Brief Survey 99
5. The English Comedians in Germany and Austria 107
5.1. The Four Phases of Influence 113
5.2. The First 'Ambassadors': Kemp, Browne & Co. 123
5.3. Browne's Successors and the Continental Repertoire 133
6. Intercultural Theatricality in ‚Engelische Comedien und Tragedien‘ 155
6.1. The Religious Plays: ‚Esther and Von dem verlornen Sohn‘ 162
6.2. Fantastic and Pastoral Comedies: ‚Von Fortunato, Von eines Königes Sohne‘ 175
6.3. Comedies with 'Types': ‚Von Sidonia und Theagene, Jemand und Niemandt‘ 190
6.4. The 'Shakespearean' Tragedies: ‚Von Julio und Hyppolita, Von Tito Andronico‘ 204
6.5. The Clown's Domain: ‚Pickelheringspiele and Singspiele‘ 223
6.6. The Parameters at Work in the Collection 240
7. The German and Austrian Stages as Competition and Melting Pots 251
7.1. ‚Der Jud von Venedig‘ – Synthesis beyond the 1620 Collection 252
7.2. English and Italian Traces in Duke Heinrich Julius, Jacob Ayrer and Andreas Gryphius 263
7.3. Arlecchino, Pickelhering and Hanswurst/Kasperl – Rivals or Brothers? 277
Conclusion – A New Perspective on Early Modern Popular Theatre 287
Bibliography 293
List of Illustrations 305
List of Abbreviations and Glossary 307
Backcover 309