ELIZABETHAN PLAYER CL Author:Mann "The actor is the centre", wrote John Webster in his celebration of the performer's charisma and skill. In the same spirit David Mann argues for more attention to the performer in the study of Elizabethan plays and less concern for their supposed meanings and morals. He concentrates on a collection of extracts from plays, many of them out of pri... more »nt for years, reprinted with modern spelling and glossaries, which show the Elizabethan actor as a character onstage. He draws from the texts a range of issues concerning performance practice: the nature of itinerance; doubling and its implications for presentational acting; the importance of clowning and improvization; and the effects of audience and venue on the dynamics of a performance. Mann provides a combination of texts and commentary, with detailed notes and glossaries to encourage a re-appraisal of what an Elizabethan text is and how it should be approached.« less