Penlington, Amanda Jane (2001) 'A little easy and modern for the times' : a documentary of productions of Ben Jonson's plays by major professional theatre companies in England, 1977-2000. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis is a collation and discussion of productions of Ben Jonson's plays in
England between 1977 and 2000. It focuses on mainstream theatre productions.
Therefore, amateur and Fringe productions, adaptations and productions by
small-scale theatre companies are not included. It contains previously unreleased
material of interviews with theatre practitioners who have been instrumental in
staging the productions covered.
Whilst scholarship has concentrated on recent productions of
Shakespeares, tudies in Jonsonianp erformanceh ave been neglected.W ith the
recent resurgence in popularity of Jonson's texts in the English theatre repertoire,
it is now pertinent to assessth e methodsu sed to staget he work of this
playwright. This thesis focuses only on the staging of texts presented between the
two dates; this does not cover all of Jonson's texts. Contained in two volumes,
Part One raises issues of performance, whilst in Part Two productions are
considered within chapters on each play. An Afterword (in Volume One)
considers the future of production and the action needed to be taken for future
progression in performance and performance studies. The Appendix (in Volume
One) contains detailed venue information. The thesis is intended as a
documented record of productions, in order to stimulate future research into
Jonsonian performance methods. By examining recent productions the failures
and successeso f the contemporaryt heatre's approacht o Jonsonh ave been noted.
This will contribute to an understanding of how Jonson's texts continue to work
on stage. The title of this thesis comes from Bartholomew Fair, a play that
addressesth e need to assimilatet he presentationo f theatre within contemporary
concerns.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN2000 Dramatic representation. The Theater
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Jonson, Ben, 1573?-1637 -- Dramatic production, English drama -- 17th century, Theater -- England -- History -- 20th century
Official Date:	April 2001
Dates:	Date Event April 2001 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for the Study of the Renaissance
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Sponsors:	British Academy (BA)
Extent:	2 v. (495 p.)
Language:	eng

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