'A play is not so ydle a thing': the dramatic output and theatre-craft of Nathan Field

Williams, Margaret Ellen (1992). 'A play is not so ydle a thing': the dramatic output and theatre-craft of Nathan Field. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Nathan Field, an actor contemporary with Burbage, is virtually unknown as a playwright. His work reflects the fact that he was an all-round man of the theatre, so Part One is largely biographical, tracing Field's involvement as actor, manager and writer with the Children of the Revels, the Lady Elizabeth's Men and the King's Men. In Part Two, which lays the foundations for Part Three, I investigate Field's authorship, or part-authorship, of six collaborative plays: The Fatal Dowry, with Massinger, The Honest Man's Fortune, Four Plays in One, The Queen of Corinth and the Knight of Malta from the 'Beaumont and Fletcher' folio of 1647, and the anonymous manuscript play The Faithful Friends.
Part Three deals with Field's dramatic output as pieces for the theatre, examining them in terms of theatre resources, their relationships with their spectators and their verbal and non-verbal communication. The conclusion supplies a perspective from which to view and to evaluate Field's work, by considering it in relation to popular theatre tradition, and by reviewing its limited performance history.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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