HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.4324/9781003352112. ISBN: 9781032399461 (PB)

Playgrounds compares the theatrical cultures of early modern England and Spain and explores the causes and consequences not just of the remarkable similarities but also of the visible differences between them. An exercise in multi-focal theatre history research, it deploys a wide range of perspectives and evidence to recreate the theatrical landscapes of these two countries and thus better to understand how the specific conditions of performance actively contributed to the development of each country’s dramatic literature. Learning from what one ‘playground’ – that is, the environment and circumstances out of which a dramatic tradition originates – reveals about the other will help solve not only the questions posed above but also others that still await examination.