Religion and Drama in Early Modern England: The Performance of Religion on the Renaissance Stage (Studies in Performance and Early Modern Drama)

Offering fuller understandings of both dramatic representations and the complexities of religious culture, this collection reveals the ways in which religion and performance were inextricably linked in early modern England. Its readings extend beyond the interpretation of straightforward religious allusions and suggest new avenues for theorizing the dynamic relationship between religious representations and dramatic ones. By addressing the particular ways in which commercial drama adapted the sensory aspects of religious experience to its own symbolic systems, the volume enacts a methodological shift towards a more nuanced semiotics of theatrical performance. Covering plays by a wide range of dramatists, including Shakespeare, individual essays explore the material conditions of performance, the intricate resonances between dramatic performance and religious ceremonies, and the multiple valences of religious references in early modern plays. Additionally, Religion and Drama in Early Modern England reveals the theater's broad interpretation of post-Reformation Christian practice, as well as its engagement with the religions of Islam, Judaism and paganism. Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Figures 8 Notes on Contributors 10 Acknowledgments 14 Introduction 16 Part I: Theatrical Materiality and Religious Effects 32 1 The Idolatrous Nose: Incense on the Early Modern Stage 34 2 Singing a New Song in The Shoemaker’s Holiday 54 3 “Looking Jewish” on the Early Modern Stage 70 4 Muslim Conversion and Circumcision as Theater 86 Part II: Intersections of Popular Theater and Religious Culture 102 5 Popular Worship and Visual Paradigms in Love’s Labor’s Lost 104 6 “It is requir’d you do awake your faith”: Belief in Shakespeare’s Theater 130 7 Archbishop Whitgift and the Plague in Thomas Nashe’s Summer’s Last Will and Testament 154 8 “Handling Religion in the Style of the Stage”: Performing the Marprelate Controversy 168 Part III: Beyond Allusion and Ideology 188 9 Martyr Acts: Playing with Foxe’s Martyrs on the Public Stage 190 10 “The Juice of Egypt’s Grape”: Plutarch, Syncretism, and Antony and Cleopatra 210 11 Paul Shakespeare: Exegetical Exercises 224 Coda 248 12 Claudius at Prayer 250 Bibliography 264 Index 292 The Performance of Religion on the Renaissance Stage Reassessing the relationship between religion and drama in early modern England, this collection explores the commercial theater's reframing of religious culture. Essays foreground the material conditions of performance, the resonances between theatrical and religious rituals, and the multiple valences of religious allusions on the stage. Discussions of both Shakespearean and non-Shakespearean drama reveal the theater's broad interpretation of Christian practice, as well as its engagement with Islam, Judaism and paganism Reassessing the relationship between religion and drama in early modern England, this collection explores the commercial theater's reframing of religious culture. Essays foreground the material conditions of performance, the resonances between theatrical and religious rituals, and the multiple valences of religious allusions on the stage. Discussions of both Shakespearean and non-Shakespearean drama reveal the theatre's broad interpretation of Christian practice, as well as its engagement with Islam, Judaism and paganism Focusing on the plays of Shakespeare as well as a range of other playwrights, this title explores the material conditions of performance, the intricate resonances between dramatic performance and religious ceremonies, and the multiple valences of religious references in early modern plays.