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Palgrave Macmillan

Turks, Repertories, and the Early Modern English Stage

  • Book
  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Mark Hutchings

    1. University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom

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  • Suggests that the presence of the Ottoman Empire on the early modern English stage was due to the London repertory system, rather than cultural engagement between a Christian nation and Islamic 'other'
  • Examines a variety of sources ranging from Henslowe's Diary to Shakespeare's plays
  • Approaches the question of the 'Turk' as a playhouse construct, using playhouse records, playbills, and playscripts

Part of the book series: Early Modern Literature in History (EMLH)

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. Introduction

    • Mark Hutchings
    Pages 1-21

  3. 1453 and All That

    • Mark Hutchings
    Pages 23-63

  4. Henslowe’s Turks

    • Mark Hutchings
    Pages 65-115

  5. The Turk Play and Repertory Modelling

    • Mark Hutchings
    Pages 117-149

  6. Shakespeare’s Turks

    • Mark Hutchings
    Pages 151-193

  7. Conclusion: Repertory Geographies and Theatregoing

    • Mark Hutchings
    Pages 195-202

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 203-254
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Keywords

About this book

This book considers the relationship between the vogue for putting the Ottoman Empire on the English stage and the repertory system that underpinned London playmaking. The sheer visibility of 'the Turk' in plays staged between 1567 and 1642 has tended to be interpreted as registering English attitudes to Islam, as articulating popular perceptions of Anglo-Ottoman relations, and as part of a broader interest in the wider world brought home by travellers, writers, adventurers, merchants, and diplomats. Such reports furnished playwrights with raw material which, fashioned into drama, established ‘the Turk’ as a fixture in the playhouse. But it was the demand for plays to replenish company repertories to attract London audiences that underpinned playmaking in this period. Thus this remarkable fascination for the Ottoman Empire is best understood as a product of theatre economics and the repertory system, rather than taken directly as a measure of cultural and historical engagement.

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom

    Mark Hutchings

About the author

Mark Hutchings is Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Reading, UK, where he specialises in early modern theatre history and performance. He has published widely on Thomas Middleton, including as editor of a forthcoming collection of essays on The Changeling, and he is currently collaborating on a project on Anglo-Spanish diplomacy.

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