Discusses two crucial moments in the histories of pain, trauma, and their staging in British Theater: the establishment of secular and professional theater in London in the 1580s, and the dissatisfaction with theatrical modes of public punishment alongside the increasing efficacy of staging extravagant spectacles at the end of the 18th century. 'An impressive contribution to the study of early modern drama and its cultural contexts, this collection richly explores the uses of pain in the communal space of the theater to fashion identities, confront collective wounds, and rework traumatic histories, while also challenging us to think more carefully about the ways early modern stagings of trauma both resist and resonate with modern theoretical concepts.' Deborah Willis, University of California, Riverside, USA 'Interesting, but specialized...Recommended.' Choice