Drama was introduced to England from Europe by the Romans, and auditoriums were constructed across the country for this purpose. By the medieval period, the mummers’ plays had developed, a form of early street theatre associated with the Morris dance, concentrating on themes such as Saint George and the Dragon and Robin Hood. These were folk tales retelling old stories, and the actors travelled from town to town performing them for their audiences in return for money and hospitality. The period known as the English Renaissance, approximately 1500-1660, saw a flowering of the drama and all the arts. The most famous example of the mystery play, Everyman, and the two candidates for the earliest comedy in English, Nicholas Udall’s Ralph Roister Doister and the anonymous Gammer Gurton’s Needle, all belong to the 16th century. During the reign of Elizabeth I in the late 16th and early 17th century, a London-centred culture that was both courtly and popular produced great poetry and drama. Perhaps the most famous playwright in the world, William Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon, wrote plays that are still performed in theatres across the world to this day. This book provides students of literature with a critical introduction to the major genres in their historical and cultural context.
