Playing Indoors: Staging Early Modern Drama in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

by Will Tosh

What have we discovered about performance practice in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse since the opening of the intimate candlelit theatre at Shakespeare's Globe? Playing Indoors reveals the results of a two-year study into the performance of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama in this unique theatre, drawing together insights into early modern stage practice and the observations of today's actors and spectators. A history of the experiences of artists and audience members who experienced the space first, the book is also a study of the significance of re-imagined theatres like the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and the Globe. Accessibly written and intended for a wide audience of students, scholars, artists and theatre-goers, Playing Indoors is a valuable contribution to the young field of early modern practice-as-research.

Genres: Shakespeare

264 pages, Hardcover

First published February 22, 2018

Reviews

[Julie Bozza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting companion to Moving Shakespeare Indoors and Shakespeare's Globe: A Theatrical Experiment, exploring the fascinating and beautiful Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. I particularly enjoyed the chapters describing the 'Research in Action' workshops, in which they used a scene from an early modern play to explore various ways of using the theatre. This included, for example: how an actor delivers an 'aside' on such a small, crowded stage; where a character like Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing might hide in order to eavesdrop on his friends as they talk about Beatrice loving him; how you convey a sense of location for an outdoor scene in this insistently indoor space; and so on. Top stuff!