This is a new edition of Andrew Gurr's classic account of the people for whom Shakespeare wrote his plays. Gurr assembles all the evidence from the writings of the time to describe the physical structure of the different types of playhouse, the services provided in the auditorium, the cost of a ticket and a cushion, the size of the crowds, the smells, the pickpockets, and the collective feelings generated by the plays. Since 1987 there have been many new discoveries about Shakespeare's theatres. Gurr introduces fresh evidence about the experience of attending a play in Shakespeare's time, adds more than thirty new entries to his account of the early playgoers and provides a select bibliography.

'Playgoing in Shakespeare's London will prove an indispensable quarry for information on theatres and audiences for a long time to come.' Renaissance Drama Newsletter
'The most vivid and substantial account of the playgoers of Shakespeare's time.' The Times Literary Supplement