‘The Two Doors’ Traffic of Our Stage': Developing and Testing ‘Spatial’ Readings

Abstract

This article argues that the seemingly useful methodological and hermeneutic circle that would employ ‘historical’ productions to illuminate and validate textual readings of Elizabethan plays is fraught with complicating factors – factors that can limit and vitiate its effectiveness as an exploratory tool. Imperfect understandings of the spatial implications of the texts allied to outdated hypothetical reconstructions of the original playing spaces can compound each other. The article suggests that instead of fully fledged productions, an exploratory ‘workshop’ approach provides a more effective methodological approach to an understanding of the dynamics between original performance conditions and the texts written for them.