Laughter and Grandeur (Stage By Stage)

"Until now there has never been a wide-ranging and comprehensive study of theatre in the Age of the Baroque, the period from the early seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth. Here is a broad yet closely studied account of what happened on stage above the sputtering, smoky footlights - often a mere few rows of candles - and behind the scenes. Philip Freund graphically evokes the leading playwrights and performers, composers and singers, choreographers and dancers, some of whom were deemed immortal and others who were once famous and subsequently forgotten but who are here restored to their rightful place in the pantheon of international theatre."--Inside jacket.