irst it must be clear that this is not a book about Elizabethan plays. This is a book about the buildings those plays were performed in -- the Theatre. If you are interested in the design of the stages and seating, the quality and technique of stagecraft, in the experience of being a theatergoer in Shakespeare's day, you need this book. This is actually, as the subtitle announces, a compendium of "Papers given at the International Conference on Elizabethan Theatre held at the University of Waterloo in July 1968." The writing is academic but surprisingly vigorous and enjoyable. Among the subjects covered are the conflicts between theatre owners and the Law, the methods used to get around the Privy Council's order for the destruction of all London theatres, and an attempt to reconstruct the Cockpit-in-Court, a playhouse built in 1596.

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