Synopses & Reviews
An original investigation into conjuring tricks and stage magic on the medieval stage.
Synopsis
Magic on the Early English Stage investigates the performance of magical tricks, illusions, effects and their staged appearance in the medieval and early English theatre. Performers who created such magic were not known as conjurors, as we might refer to them today, but as jugglers. Records concerning jugglers on the medieval stage have been hitherto misunderstood or misapplied. These references to jugglers are re-examined in the light of discussions of 'feats of activity' that also include tumbling, vaulting and 'dancing on the rope'; appearances and disappearances of the 'Now you see it, now you don't' variety; and stage versions of these concepts; magic through sound in terms of ventriloquy and sound through pipes; mechanical images and puppets; and stage tricks. Information that has remained dormant since original publication is discussed in relation to jugglers such as Thomas Brandon, the King's Juggler, and William Vincent, alias 'Hocus Pocus'. - Investigates the nature of the work of medieval jugglers for the first time
- Identifies and discusses individual jugglers and their work
- Draws upon analysis of stage directions, civic records, ecclesiastical accounts, eye-witness descriptions, and early books on magic to form a picture of the representation of magic on the medieval stage
Synopsis
Magic on the Early English Stage is an original study of conjuring tricks and stage magic in theatre from medieval times to the seventeenth century. Performers who created such magic were known as jugglers rather than conjurors, as we know them today. This book investigates, for the first time, the nature of their work, their skills and the relationship between individual jugglers and magic performed 'on stage'. As Butterworth describes, much of this work was performed by small family-based companies whose repertoire included tumbling, vaulting and 'dancing on the rope'.
About the Author
Philip Butterworth is Reader in Medieval Theatre at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds. He is the author of Theatre of Fire: Special Effects in Early English and Scottish Theatre, and has published widely in journals on the subject of Medieval Theatre, including essays in 'Medieval English Theatre'. He is currently working, with Joslin McKinney, on The Cambridge Introduction to Scenography, to be published in 2006.
Table of Contents
Introduction; 1. Jugglers: the creators of magic; 2. Feats of activity: juggling, tumbling and dancing on the rope; 3. Conveyance and confederacy; 4. Appearances and disappearances; 5. Magic through sound; 6. Mechanical images, automata, puppets and motions; 7. Substitution; 8. Stage tricks; 9. Terminology; Appendix 1. Edward Melton's Text; Appendix 2. Wily Beguiled (1606); Appendix 3. Beggars' Bush (1622); Appendix 4. The Knave in Gnaine (1640).