The theatrical city

the long version

This collection of essays adopts a unique interdisciplinary approach to a diverse group of texts produced in London during the Renaissance: eight literary scholars and eight historians from Britain and the United States have been paired to write companion essays on each text. This collaborative method opens up rich insights into London's social, political and cultural life that would have eluded members of either discipline working in isolation. 'Theatrical' is used in a flexible sense, and is applied to the civic rituals and public spectacles of the capital (for example the execution of King Charles I) as well as to the elite and the popular theatre. The eight texts therefore include historical accounts, political documents and polemical works as well as plays.