While the purpose-built playhouses of early modern London – such as the Globe, Rose, and Blackfriars – dominate histories of early modern performance, theatrical activity frequently spilled out into non-dedicated, non-purpose-built sites. Command performances often took place at the royal court or on country estates, while the evidence for London playing companies on tour compiled by projects such as Records of Early English Drama (REED) has unveiled a rich regional theatre history in guildhalls, chapels, inn yards, open streets, and even the deck of an East India Company ship. Performance in early modern England was profoundly adaptable.

I am now inviting chapter proposals (max. 8,000 words, including endnotes) for a new essay collection, which Routledge have expressed strong interest in including as part of their "Advances in Theatre and Performance Studies" book series. This collection seeks to shift the focus away from the famous London playhouses to interrogate how non-dedicated spaces functioned as sites of performance in early modern England.

A chapter on Guildhalls is already in preparation; additional chapters may consider spaces such as Royal Courts, Inns and Taverns, Universities, Open Streets, Ship Decks, Inns of Court, Private Homes, Churches and Chapels, or Provincial Playhouses. This is not necessarily an exhaustive list, however.

Each chapter should focus on analysing a single category of performance space, and prioritise spatial, architectural, historical, and archival questions, such as (but not limited to):

• Spatial and Material Function: How did the physical layout, acoustic properties, lighting, and material constraints of the space shape performance dynamics and spectator experience? How did spaces facilitate performance, or demand adaptation of the repertory?

• Documentary and Archival Evidence: What does historical documentation, household accounts, civic records, court papers, or other data (e.g. as found in REED) suggest about players’ use of these spaces?

• Practice-based & Experimental Research: We also welcome innovative approaches, including those that draw creatively on practice-as-research, historical reconstructions, or experimental staging within surviving structures.

Chapters should not be dedicated to analysing specific play(s) for the sake of analysis itself. However, where clear archival evidence connects specific plays or acting companies with known repertories to a venue (e.g. the 1607 performances of Hamlet and Richard II aboard Captain William Keeling’s Red Dragon; Pembroke’s Men’s touring repertory of 1592-4), contributors may choose to theorise about how relevant plays may have operated within the physical space.

Please send chapter titles and proposals of approx. 300 to 500 words, plus a short author bio, as email attachments to Dr. Will Green (Research Partner at Shakespeare’s Schoolroom & Guildhall, Stratford-upon-Avon, and visiting fellow at the University of London from October 2026) at WDGreen.Research@gmail.com. Submissions should arrive no later than 19th October 2026.

Abstracts should detail the venue type the author wishes to focus on, and how they intend to approach their analysis. Please also indicate whether images may be included in your chapter – where possible, contributors are encouraged to try and include between 1 and 3 images but, recognising individual funding constraints, this is not essential.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you wish to discuss an idea before submitting a proposal.