SHAKESPEARE AT THE GLOBE

Professor Beckerman's useful book reconstructs the conditions and ingredients of the stagecraft at the Globe Theatre between 1599 and 1609. While concentrating on the Shakespearean plays, he frequently refers to other productions when these show how a Shakespearean play might have been staged. He believes that the actual construction of the Globe stage was less influential on staging than other commentators have claimed, and that the repertory system (far more strenuous than any current TV drama schedule), the contemporary dramatic conventions and techniques were far more important. He analyzes the plays, the different types of scene, the acting style which was not ""formalized"" to contemporaries, and documents and discusses certain staging devices. His study, however, has a certain disjointedness, as a if it were a group of essays rather than a whole, and it is too specialized for the non-professional reader.