Shakespeare and the Modern Stage; with Other Essays

Actors, scenery and the habits of audiences shape Sidney Lee's discussion of Shakespeare in performance. His eleven essays connect dramatic history with the theatrical concerns of his own day, drawing on papers written between 1899 and 1905. The subjects range from Elizabethan playgoers and the observations of Samuel Pepys to Shakespeare's reception in France, his philosophy and proposals for a London memorial. Lee treats performance as an important means of understanding the plays.

The debate over how theatres should operate gives the collection a practical edge. Lee argues for a municipal theatre with a public artistic purpose and limits on private profit, while still taking ticket receipts and audience demand seriously. Readers interested in stage history can trace the relationship between acting, production choices and the business of theatre. The essays also offer a period perspective on the support literary drama needs and the ways it reaches the public.