An overview of Renaissance & Elizabethan
Between the rebuilding of the public theatres in late-Elizabethan London and the closing of the playhouses in 1642, English-language drama produced a body of work — Shakespeare's, Marlowe's, Jonson's, Webster's — so dense and so durable that it has remained the central text of theatre training for four centuries. Continental Europe simultaneously produced the great Spanish Golden Age dramatists, Lope de Vega and Calderón. Together they form the bedrock of the early-modern repertoire.
Plays from this era (141)
- The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume II — by Aphra Behn
- The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III — by Aphra Behn
- Every Man in His Humour — by Ben Jonson
- Every Man out of His Humour — by Ben Jonson
- Cynthia's Revels; Or, The Fountain of Self-Love — by Ben Jonson
- Epicoene; Or, The Silent Woman — by Ben Jonson
- Volpone; Or, The Fox — by Ben Jonson
- The Alchemist — by Ben Jonson
- The Poetaster — by Ben Jonson
- Sejanus: His Fall — by Ben Jonson
- Every Man in His Humor — by Ben Jonson
- Bartholomew Fair: A Comedy — by Ben Jonson
- The Devil is an Ass — by Ben Jonson
- The Spirit of Contradiction — by Charles Rivière Dufresny
- The Forfeiture — by Charles Rivière Dufresny
- The Double Widowing — by Charles Rivière Dufresny
- The Village Coquette; Or, The Supposed Lottery — by Charles Rivière Dufresny
- The Jew of Malta — by Christopher Marlowe
- Tamburlaine the Great — Part 1 — by Christopher Marlowe
- Massacre at Paris — by Christopher Marlowe
- Tamburlaine the Great — Part 2 — by Christopher Marlowe
- The Tragedy of Dido Queene of Carthage — by Christopher Marlowe
- Edward the Second — by Christopher Marlowe
- The Works of Christopher Marlowe, Vol. 3 (of 3) — by Christopher Marlowe
- The Works of Christopher Marlowe, Vol. 2 (of 3) — by Christopher Marlowe
- The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher in Ten Volumes: Volume 01. — by Francis Beaumont
- The Maids Tragedy — by Francis Beaumont
- Philaster; Or, Love Lies a Bleeding — by Francis Beaumont
- The Scornful Lady — by Francis Beaumont
- A King, and No King — by Francis Beaumont
- Phaedra — by Jean Racine
- Esther — by Jean Racine
- The Unforseen Return — by Jean-François Regnard
- The McNaughtens — by Jean-François Regnard
- The Follies of Love — by Jean-François Regnard
- All for Love; Or, The World Well Lost: A Tragedy — by John Dryden
- The Elder Brother The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher (Volume 2 of 10) — by John Fletcher
- The Spanish Curate: A Comedy — by John Fletcher
- Beggars Bush: A Comedy From the Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher (Volume 2 of 10) — by John Fletcher
- The Faithful Shepherdess The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher (Volume 2 of 10). — by John Fletcher
- The Duchess of Malfi — by John Webster
- Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite — by Molière
- Amphitryon — by Molière
- The Middle-Class Gentleman — by Molière
- The Pretentious Young Ladies — by Molière
- The Blunderer — by Molière
- The Love-Tiff — by Molière
- The Bores: A Comedy in Three Acts — by Molière
- Sganarelle, or, the Self-Deceived Husband — by Molière
- Don Garcia of Navarre; Or, the Jealous Prince. A Heroic Comedy in Five Acts. — by Molière
- The School for Husbands — by Molière
- The Miser — by Molière
- Monsieur De Pourceaugnac — by Molière
- The Magnificent Lovers (Les Amants magnifiques) — by Molière
- The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman — by Molière
- Psyche — by Molière
- The Countess of Escarbagnas — by Molière
- The Learned Women — by Molière
- The Impostures of Scapin — by Molière
- The Imaginary Invalid — by Molière
- The Flying Doctor (Le Médecin Volant) — by Molière
- The Jealousy of le Barbouillé (La Jalousie du Barbouillé) — by Molière
- The Lucky Man — by Monsieur (Michel) Baron
- Life Is a Dream — by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
- The Purgatory of St. Patrick — by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
- The Wonder-Working Magician — by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
- The Two Lovers of Heaven: Chrysanthus and Daria A Drama of Early Christian Rome — by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
- Polyeucte — by Pierre Corneille
- The Cid — by Pierre Corneille
- The Spanish Tragedie — by Thomas Kyd
- King Henry VI, Part 1 — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry VI, Part 2 — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry VI, Part 3 — by William Shakespeare
- King Richard III — by William Shakespeare
- The Comedy of Errors — by William Shakespeare
- Titus Andronicus — by William Shakespeare
- The Taming of the Shrew — by William Shakespeare
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona — by William Shakespeare
- Love's Labour's Lost — by William Shakespeare
- King John — by William Shakespeare
- King Richard II — by William Shakespeare
- Romeo and Juliet — by William Shakespeare
- A Midsummer Night's Dream — by William Shakespeare
- The Merchant of Venice — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry IV, Part 1 — by William Shakespeare
- The Merry Wives of Windsor — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry IV, Part 2 — by William Shakespeare
- Much Ado about Nothing — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry V — by William Shakespeare
- Julius Caesar — by William Shakespeare
- As You Like It — by William Shakespeare
- Hamlet — by William Shakespeare
- Twelfth Night — by William Shakespeare
- Troilus and Cressida — by William Shakespeare
- All's Well That Ends Well — by William Shakespeare
- Measure for Measure — by William Shakespeare
- Othello — by William Shakespeare
- King Lear — by William Shakespeare
- The Tragedy of Macbeth — by William Shakespeare
- Antony and Cleopatra — by William Shakespeare
- Coriolanus — by William Shakespeare
- Timon of Athens — by William Shakespeare
- Cymbeline — by William Shakespeare
- The Winter's Tale — by William Shakespeare
- The Tempest — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry VIII — by William Shakespeare
- The Two Noble Kinsmen — by William Shakespeare
- Macbeth — by William Shakespeare
- Pericles, Prince of Tyre — by William Shakespeare
- Mucedorus — by William Shakespeare
- Sir Thomas More — by William Shakespeare
- Locrine — by William Shakespeare
- Thomas Lord Cromwell — by William Shakespeare
- King Edward III — by William Shakespeare
- Sir John Oldcastle — by William Shakespeare
- Shakespeare's First Folio — by William Shakespeare
- The London Prodigal — by William Shakespeare
- The Puritan Widow — by William Shakespeare
- A Yorkshire Tragedy — by William Shakespeare
- The Merry Devil of Edmonton — by William Shakespeare
- Fair Em — by William Shakespeare
- Hamlet The First ('Bad') Quarto — by William Shakespeare
- Hamlet A Study with the Text of the Folio of 1623 — by William Shakespeare
- Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice Arranged for Representation at the Princess's Theatre, with Historical and Explanatory Notes by Charles Kean, F.S.A. — by William Shakespeare
- A Fairy Tale in Two Acts Taken from Shakespeare (1763) — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry V Arranged for Representation at the Princess's Theatre — by William Shakespeare
- The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 1 of 9] Introduction and Publisher's Advertising — by William Shakespeare
- The Tempest The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] — by William Shakespeare
- Two Gentlemen of Verona The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] — by William Shakespeare
- The Merry Wives of Windsor The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] — by William Shakespeare
- Measure for Measure The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] — by William Shakespeare
- The Comedy of Errors The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] — by William Shakespeare
- The New Hudson Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar — by William Shakespeare
- Arden of Feversham — by William Shakespeare
- The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 2 of 9] — by William Shakespeare
- The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 7 of 9] — by William Shakespeare
- The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 6 of 9] — by William Shakespeare
- The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 8 of 9] — by William Shakespeare
- The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 5 of 9] — by William Shakespeare
- The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 4 of 9] — by William Shakespeare
- The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 3 of 9] — by William Shakespeare
Legacy & influence
Plays from Renaissance & Elizabethan continue to define what working theatre artists assume a play is. Drama-school curricula are built around them; regional theatres programme at least one of them every season; high-school English departments teach them year after year because students respond to the structural clarity and the language. What looks at first like pious veneration of the canon is, on closer inspection, a working consensus among practitioners that these plays still teach us how the form actually works.