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D'Avenant, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)D'Avenant or Davenant, Sir William dăvˈənənt [key], 1606–68, English poet, playwright, and theatrical producer. His life and work bridge the gap between the Elizabethan and Restoration ages. His...

Bonnefoy, Yves

(Encyclopedia)Bonnefoy, Yves ēv bônfwäˈ [key], 1923–2016, French poet, critic, and translator of many of Shakespeare's plays and poems, studied Univ. of Poitier, Sorbonne. His verse, e.g., On the Motion and I...

Burbage, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Burbage, Richard bûrˈbĭj [key], 1567?–1619, first great English actor. The leading tragedian of the Chamberlain's Men, he originated the title roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Lear, Othello, and Ri...

Staunton

(Encyclopedia)Staunton stănˈtən [key], city (1990 pop. 24,461), seat of Augusta co., W central Va., in the Shenandoah Valley; settled 1732, inc. as a city 1871. It is a trade and industrial center in a fertile f...

Plautus

(Encyclopedia)Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) plôˈtəs [key], c.254–184 b.c., Roman writer of comedies, b. Umbria. His plays, adapted from those of Greek New Comedy, are popular and vigorous representations of ...

Hazlitt, William

(Encyclopedia)Hazlitt, William, 1778–1830, English essayist. The son of a reform-mindeed Unitarian minister, he abandoned the idea of entering the clergy and took up painting, philosophy, and later journalism. He...

Jochumsson, Matthías

(Encyclopedia)Jochumsson, Matthías mätˈtēäs yŏkˈküms-sŏn [key], 1835–1920, Icelandic playwright, poet, and translator. Although Jochumsson was the founder of the modern drama in Iceland, with poetic play...

Pitoëff, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Pitoëff, Georges zhôrzh pēˈtōĕf [key], 1884–1939, Russian actor-manager. Although he had both engineering and law degrees, Pitoeff was drawn to the theater. He directed his own amateur company...

Killigrew, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Killigrew, Thomas kĭlˈəgro͞oˌ [key], 1612–83, English dramatist and theater manager, b. London. Before the closing of the theaters by the Puritans in 1642, he wrote several tragicomedies, inclu...

Chamberlain's Men

(Encyclopedia)Chamberlain's Men, Elizabethan theatrical company for which Shakespeare, a joint owner of the company, wrote his plays and served as actor. Organized in 1594, they performed at the Globe and at the Bl...