Antitheatrical Apprentices: Riots, Theater Closures, and the Dramaturgy of Self-Preservation

• In Event: "Prentices! Clubs!": Defining and Containing the Apprentices of Early Modern London

Abstract

We know apprentices rioted and these riots often occurred around and sometimes inside the playhouses. And we know that these riots were sometimes directed at playhouses; Shrove-tide rioters often tried to destroy the theaters, even though apprentices were also sometimes playgoers themselves. However, almost no one has seriously thought about how these riots affected the playing companies. How did the volatile nature of the early modern crowd impact playwrights’ stagecraft and dramaturgy? The issue is complicated by the economics of riots. London authorities would sometimes close the theaters after apprentice riots, thus playwrights had a financial incentive to keep apprentices under control. This paper will argue that playwrights often crafted their plays to placate apprentices by seeking to limit the motive force of plays for fear of inflaming the passions of their audience. That is, in an act of self-preservation, they did their part to control unruly London apprentices.

Author

• Eric Meyer Dunnum, Winona State University