REED examines the early history of English theatre and performances.
This innovative project is the first to establish the broad context from which the great drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries grew. By rediscovering and examining historical documents, an international team of scholars led by those at U of T is meticulously reconstructing an entire period. The most recent volume focuses on records from the counties of Dorset and Cornwall. This project is not just about early theatre, it is about a society in transition. Transforming Old English from manuscripts to megabytes, The Dictionary of Old English is Canada's distinctive contribution to the story of the English language as written between AD 600 and AD 1150.