Lancashire, Anne Begor 1941–

(Anne Charlotte Begor)

PERSONAL:

Born November 23, 1946, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; daughter of Fay Broughton Begor (a medical doctor and U.S. Navy Lieutenant) and Katherine Begor; children: Ruth, Susannah, David. Education: McGill University, B.A., 1962; Harvard University, M.A., 1963, Ph.D., 1965.

ADDRESSES:

Office—University College, University of Toronto, 15 King's College Circle, Rm. 277, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada. E-mail—anne@chass.utoronto.ca.

CAREER:

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, lecturer, 1965-67, assistant professor, 1967-71, associate professor, 1971-76, professor of English, 1976—, chair of English department, 1983-84.

MEMBER:

Modern Language Association, Shakespeare Association of America (past president), Malone Society, Film Studies Association of Canada.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Canadian Council fellowship, 1971.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) John Lyly, Gallathea and Midas, University of Nebraska Press (Lincoln), 1969.

(Editor) Editing Renaissance Dramatic Texts, English, Italian, and Spanish: Papers Given at the Eleventh Annual Conference on Editorial Problems, University of Toronto, 31 October-1 November 1975, Garland (New York, NY), 1976.

(Editor) Thomas Middleton, The Second Maiden's Tragedy, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1978.

(Editor) Clifford Leech, Christopher Marlowe: Poet for the Stage, AMS Press (New York, NY), 1986.

London Civic Theatre: City Drama and Pageantry from Roman Times to 1558, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Anne Begor Lancashire is a professor of English at the University of Toronto who has edited several works of early modern writers, including John Lyly and Thomas Middleton. She is also the author of the well-received London Civic Theatre: City Drama and Pageantry from Roman Times to 1558. The first part of the book outlines London's history of theater beginning with the construction of a 6,000-seat amphitheater by the Romans around 70 C.E. on the site of what later became the Guildhall—a coincidence that hints at the importance of performance from the city's earliest days. The remains of the Roman amphitheater were discovered only in 1988 and proved to be a key development in Lancashire's research. Though records of a continuing theater tradition from Roman times to the opening of the Red Lion Theater in 1567 are scant, Lancashire's "diligent study of archeological, manuscript, and chronicle sources proves that [London's continuing civic theater tradition] is a compelling premise," wrote Katharine Goodland in the Renaissance Quarterly.

The city's theater traditions from the twilight of Roman rule through the establishment of the Anglo-Saxons may have incorporated mummings, masques, and mystery plays—many of which were ceremonial in nature. By roughly 980 C.E., drama was largely liturgical and confined to the domain of the monasteries. The Clerkenwell plays of the fourteenth century were organized by the city clerks and performed for royalty. These evolved into civic dramas sponsored by guilds and performed during specific feasts. While little documentation of these plays exists, Lancashire presents evidence of the traditions as they are described in historical and archival documents.

The second half of the book covers the period 1410 to 1558, when the dramatic tradition solidified into its pre-William Shakespeare format in the years prior to the ascension of Elizabeth I. Civic theater became more formalized, and Midsummer Watch celebrations began to include more elaborate mystery plays, usually honoring St. John the Baptist and Saints Peter and Paul. Towns across England sponsored dramatic stagings, but Lancashire's book is one of the first to concentrate on London's civic theater history. "Lancashire tells the story well," wrote Clifford Davidson in Comparative Drama. However, he cautioned, "there is a serious warning in her account not to trust antiquarian accounts without external verification," a comment that underscores Lancashire's ability to synthesize information from many historical sources. The book is an "informative and expansive history," according to Adam Zucker in Albion, who concluded that "the book's strength lies in its straightforward presentation of … factual outlines for a series of civic forms." John Micheal Crafton, writing in the Shakespeare Bulletin, concluded that London Civic Theatre is an important book whose "virtue is its slow, steady, meticulous and cautious presentation of its evidence and conclusions," he wrote. "Its conclusions, furthermore, may not appear bold to some readers, but they are."

Lancashire is also a professor of drama and film, and has published several articles on science fiction and contemporary American film.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Albion, spring, 2004, Adam Zucker, review of London Civic Theatre: City Drama and Pageantry from Roman Times to 1558, p. 100.

Comparative Drama, summer, 2003, Clifford Davidson, review of London Civic Theatre, p. 241.

Modern Language Review, October, 1989, Richard Dutton, review of Christopher Marlowe: Poet for the Stage, p. 922.

Renaissance Quarterly, summer, 2004, Katharine Goodland, review of London Civic Theatre, p. 721.

Shakespeare Bulletin, spring, 2004, John Micheal Crafton, review of London Civic Theatre, p. 116.

Shakespeare Quarterly, fall, 2005, Gordon Kipling, review of London Civic Theatre, pp. 362-365.

Shakespeare Studies, 2005, Lukas Erne, review of London Civic Theatre, p. 285.

Sixteenth Century Journal, fall, 2004, Jeanne H. McCarthy, review of London Civic Theatre, pp. 863-864.

Studies in English Literature, spring, 1987, Jean E. Howard, review of Christopher Marlowe, p. 344.