‘Players’ in Context: Determining Performance in Medieval Accountancy Records

Chambers, Mark

doi:10.12745/et.23.2.4383

‘Players’ in Context: Determining Performance in Medieval Accountancy Records

Chambers, Mark

Authors

Dr Mark Chambers mark.chambers@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

Abstract

Arguably the largest source of REED material of their kind so far collected, the accounts of Durham’s medieval monastic community provide evidence for plays, music, and performers from around the palatinate, including payments to istriones, joculatores, and ministralli performing for various occasions. With accountancy material, however, it can be difficult deciding if individual entries represent evidence of performers or performances per se, or what the nature of any performance might have been. This essay examines these issues in Durham’s accountancy records, looking particularly at Finchale Priory’s so-called ‘playerchambre’: instances in which evidence of ‘performance’ is uncertain and/or only determinable by wider consideration of context.

Citation

Chambers, M. (2020). ‘Players’ in Context: Determining Performance in Medieval Accountancy Records. Early Theatre, 23(2), https://doi.org/10.12745/et.23.2.4383

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Dec 24, 2020
Publication Date	2020
Deposit Date	Jan 8, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Jan 8, 2021
Journal	Early Theatre
Print ISSN	1206-9078
Publisher	Becker Associates
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	23
Issue	2
DOI	https://doi.org/10.12745/et.23.2.4383
Keywords	Medieval and early modern drama, performance, accounts

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Copyright Statement
(c) The Author. This article has been published in the journal 'Early Theatre' (https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/) and will be available from https://doi.org/10.12745/et.23.2.4383.