Gaming the Stage

Bloom, Gina

doi:10.3998/mpub.9831118

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…They align themselves with bowling alleys as one of early modern London's entertainment hubs. In light of this alignment, the affinities between the 'game' space and the playhouse indicated here provide further evidence to support Gina Bloom's claim that the 'gaming culture of early modern London eased the transition to a commercial theater': 23 indeed, as I demonstrate further on, the playing industry was subject to the adapted strategies and vocabulary used to regulate and respond to other types of 'play'.…”

Section: Bowling and Playingsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…They would have been aware of the affinities that any playing space would share with the houses designed for such recreational activities, and perhaps were inspired, motivated, or influenced by them -directly or indirectly. Not only were playhouses 'built right next to gaming establishments', as Bloom explains, 27 but they were conceptual neighbours in all areas, from private petitions and civic documentation to the print market. Above and beyond many other forms of game, bowling offers a particularly strong parallel with playing because it draws together connotations of the term 'play' to link the physical spaces of the 'house' and the 'alley' that accommodated such forms of recreation.…”

Section: Bowling and Playingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bowling Alleys and Playhouses in London, 1560-90

Davies

2019

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Bowling Alleys and Playhouses in London, 1560-90Recreational and domestic alleys provide a useful paradigm for understanding the construction of commercial stages in the 1560s and 1570s, and they provide essential and overlooked contexts that situate playhouses within the wider leisure ecology of Elizabethan London. Bowling alleys' construction, reception, and activity present striking similarities with multipurpose theatre buildings, and they lay down models not only for those managing recreational space but also for those in opposition to it. They help supply the vocabulary of recreational enterprise later attached to theatrical playing spaces and lay foundations -in all senses -for the development of London's theatre industry itself.Bowling alleys might not seem an obvious parallel to the Elizabethan spaces that staged the plays of Robert Greene, Thomas Kyd, John Lyly, Christopher Marlowe, George Peele, William Shakespeare, and Robert Wilson, but they are closely tied up with the playhouse industry of mid-to-late sixteenth-century London. Among chief concerns for builders of playhouses in this period are issues of city regulation and opposition from local residents; choosing open or closed, indoor or outdoor venues; and finding skilled constructors to build or adapt acquired space to the desired ends. Each of these issues is equally pertinent to bowling alleys, whose proprietors were navigating such paths long before purpose-built structures for commercial drama were widely established in the city. Bowling alleys therefore provide a useful paradigm for understanding the construction of long-standing commercial stages in the 1560s and 1570s, and they provide essential and overlooked contexts that situate playhouses within the wider leisure ecology of Elizabethan London. Scholars have posited various models of influence for playhouse construction, particularly classical amphitheatres and contemporary animal baiting arenas, none of which has proved to be entirely persuasive; 1 by contrast, theatre historians have not before considered bowling alleys to be a major influence Callan Davies (C.J.Davies@kent.ac.uk) is a research associate at the University of Kent. Callan DaviesEarly Theatre 22.2

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Section: Bowling and Playingsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Bowling and Playingmentioning

confidence: 99%