Several famous playwrights of the Elizabethan and Stuart periods, including Shakespeare, wrote for open-air public theaters and also for the private, indoor theaters at the palaces at which the Court resided. The author draws as full a picture as he can of the royal theaters used at courts, the physical and aesthetic conditions under which actors worked in them, and the composition and conduct of court audiences. The book includes an appendix that lists all known court performances of plays and masques between 1558 and 1642. "The first complete survey of royal and noble patronage of the drama of the ages of Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I is English Court Theatre 1558-1642. John H. Astington is especially reasonable and reliable on the physical conditions of performance. An important book." Bibliotheque D'Humanisme "the most systematic and authoritative account to date of the arrangements by which Tudor and Stuart monarchs harnessed professional theater to the service of royal entertainment." Modern Philosophy vol 98/4 "This book is written in a clear and meticulous style, and it is filled with important information concerning the physical and aesthetic aspects of court theater." Sixteenth Century Journal A full account of court theatre in the Elizabethan and Stuart periods.