Squeaking Cleopatras
Subtitle: the Elizabethan boy player
By: Joy Leslie Gibson.
Publisher: Sutton
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Stroud, Gloucestershire
Language: eng
Number of pages: 222
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Stage history -- England -- London; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Stage history -- To 1625; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Relations with actors; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Characters -- Women; English drama -- Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600 -- History and criticism; English drama -- 17th century -- History and criticism; Child actors -- England -- History -- 16th century; Child actors -- England -- History -- 17th century; Theater -- England -- History -- 16th century; Theater -- England -- History -- 17th century; Acting -- History -- 16th century; Women in literature
Description: "'That woman is a woman!' So thundered Simon Callow in the film Shakespeare in Love, thus underlining one of the great differences between our theatre and that of the Elizabethans where women were prohibited from appearing on the stage. In this highly controversial book, the first on the subject for over sixty years, Joy Leslie Gibson looks at the female roles in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama from the point of view of the boys who actually had to create these fascinating and dramatic parts." "Scrupulously researched, this groundbreaking book sheds new light not only on Elizabethan drama but also on society as a whole. It will be required reading for any lover of Shakespeare or anyone made curious by a visit to the theatre to see one of Shakespeare's plays."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-216) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1 Education and Apprenticeships; title: 2 To be a Woman; title: 3 To be an Actor; title: 4 The Anatomy of Speech; title: 5 The Woman's Part; title: 6 The Other Playwrights; title: 7 The Children of St Paul's; title: 8 The Children of the Revels; title: 9 Boys will be Girls and Girls will be Boys; title: Conclusion; title: Appendix One: Punctuation of Ophelia's Speech,; title: Hamlet, Act 3 scene i, 'O, What a Noble Mind'; title: Appendix Two: The Sumptuary Laws; title: Bihliography; title: Index.