John Orrell Knihy

Focusing on the Globe playhouse, this book explores its size, shape, and architectural significance during Shakespeare's era. It delves into the design elements that influenced performances and audience experiences, providing insights into the cultural and historical context of the theater. Through detailed analysis, it highlights how the Globe served as a pivotal venue for Shakespeare's works and the evolution of theatrical spaces in the Renaissance.

Focusing on the theatres from the era of Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, this book explores their architectural significance and design principles influenced by contemporary thought. It delves into the cultural and artistic environment of the time, offering insights into how these elements shaped the performance spaces that hosted iconic works of drama. The analysis highlights the interplay between architecture and theatrical innovation, providing a rich context for understanding the evolution of performance venues in early modern England.

The English stage of Shakespeare's day was a place superbly fitted for the rhetorical drama of the times; by the Restoration it had been replaced by a kind of playhouse better suited to the 'Scenes and Machines' which dealt in spectacles. The seventeenth century was therefore a crucial one in the history of the stage, yet concrete evidence of the playhouses constructed during this time has been scarce and elusive. The best of it lies in the drawing which Inigo Jones, Surveyor of the King's Works, and his pupil, John Webb, made for a succession of playhouses and Court theatres. Jones was responsible for the visual aspects of the masques performed at the various royal palaces, and both he and Webb designed a number of regular theatres at Court. In this 1985 book, the author establishes Jones and Webb as the most effective London theatre builders and scene designers of the seventeenth century.