Shakespeareʼs commitment to the public theaters suggests in itself that his political ambition was more modest than that of his contemporary, Ben Jonson, if only because Shakespeare appears to have made no attempt to succeed as a court playwright, as Jonson did. All were located in the London suburbs, with competing political authorities, social ambiguity, and relative freedom from official control (Mullaney).
It will be useful here to summarize his findings by distinguishing the same four shifts in theatrical style that mark the history of criticism outlined above-from the original performance at the Globe in 1599 to neo-classical, Romantic, modern, and postmodern, with particular attention to concurrent political changes in each case.ĢThe Globe Theater was one of several public theaters to which Shakespeare remained committed throughout his entire career. Scattered among his bookʼs informative pages are suggestions about why production values changed, but his real strength is in recording the changes themselves. John Ripleyʼs census of English and North American theatrical performances alone for 1599 to 1973 runs to twenty-four pages (287-311), and his book remains unsurpassed, with its thorough attention to changes in play text, actors in various parts, alterations in acting and theater style, costume, and venue.
1 Julius Caesar is unusual among Shakespeareʼs plays in that a book-length study has been devoted to the history of its production on stage from the beginning to the late twentieth century.
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