ABSTRACT
The assumption behind much commentary on early modern drama is that the texts of the published plays, in particular their stage directions, provide a means, albeit partial, of visualising original performance. While this assumption is not altogether unproblematic – as with period theatre illustrations there is a range of contextualisation one must consider when interpreting stage directions – modern scholarship generally accepts the relationship between stage directions (in plays written for performance) and period theatrical production (actual or potential). Nevertheless, as the interpretation of Restoration stage directions is fundamental to this study, it is important to examine this relationship in some detail. Hence, the first part of this chapter argues that visualisation by readers of the material conditions of performance, often involving specific theatrical arrangements, was taken for granted by Restoration playwrights who incorporated it in their texts. The second part concerns modern re-visualisation of material staging leading to conjectural models and reconstructions, a process dependent on historical research (as opposed to direct experience in the case of the Restoration theatregoer-reader) and consequently susceptible to misinterpretation. The function of this chapter is to contextualise both the evidence derived from primary source material and the methods used to interpret it, prior to detailed discussion and analyses in later chapters.
