ABSTRACT
THE REMARKABLE CONVENTION OF prompting in full view of the audience sits uneasily alongside modern understanding of present and some earlier forms of European theatre. A number of modern scholars and commentators are suspicious of this practice because they can not envisage it working, or if they can, it is considered to be an exceptional and primitive device used to promote, excuse or disguise nai:ve performance. The sparseness of available evidence also makes it vulnerable to disparagement.
