humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

On Mar 2, 1:41=A0pm, "Paul Crowley"
wrote:
> "laraine" wrote in message
>
> news:98f75537-837f-43ad-98b3-ae2c85c2f835@u10g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
>
>
> >> Today's programme on King Lear was
> >> what might have been expected. Zero
> >> enlightenment.
>
> > Well, I didn't know that the play wasn't popular
> > when it first performed --guess they determined
> > that from the amount of money made, as far
> > as it was recorded.
>
> Sure, the nightly takings for each play
> are in the record.
>
> I don't think.
>
> Those guys have NOT A CLUE as
> to how popular it was 'when it was
> first performed'. =A0The ''scholarship'
> here is up to the usual Stratfordian
> standard -- i.e. pure guesswork.

Now, I know I have read that Dr. Faustus
was very popular for several years at the
turn of the 16th/17th century, so there
must have been records (in addition to
Philip Henslowe's diary).

C.


>
> > It might be interesting to look at the happy-ending
> > versions of Lear =A0--I assume such play versions are
> > not performed anymore.
>
> They're around on the web, and
> make interesting reading. =A0Like
> the rest of the canon, it had to be
> drastically dumbed-down, even if
> it was (supposedly) performed to
> much better educated audiences
> (at one of the two small theatres
> allowed after the Restoration).
>
> Paul