Circumscribing the Theater: Enclosure, Regulation, and Censorship.

In 1598, John Stowe (1525–1605) published his Survey of London, a record of the city's rich history, changing geography, and rapidly disappearing theatrical traditions. Among other things, he noted with regret the loss of traditional recreations, "which open pastimes in my youth, being now suppressed, worser practices within doors are to be feared." Citing William FitzStephen's description of London, written four centuries earlier, Stowe devoted page after page to a description of the Christmas revels, Carnival celebrations, city festivals, athletic contests, religious processions, and plays which had been the focus of community life in the days before the Reformation. In one section in particular, he focuses on May games, describing first the pleasures of the "sweet meadows and green woods" and other pleasures of the season, and then providing detail about the nature of the...