A Bibliography
Updated: April, 2007

The following is a listing of books that can be found in the libraries of various members of the Golden Stag Players that we have used over the years to help us out, give us ideas, and to perform some of our research. Many of these books are specifically Commedia dell'Arte oriented, but as you can see, some of the members of the troupe do have other resources as well. Those books that are recommended for any student of the theatre are noted with "Yes" in the recommended column. Some of the books are rather scholarly, and may take some folk a lot of "slogging" to get through, and are not recommended for beginners (or even for some advanced folk <g>).

There are two categories: General Theatre Books and Commedia dell'Arte.

General Theatre Books
TITLEISBNLibrary ofRecommended
Elizabethan Acting, B. L. Joseph, Pub: Oxford University Press, 1952   Hirsch and Aldith  
Everyman's Library: The Minor Elizabethan Drama, pre-Shakespearean Tragedies, Rhys, Ernest ed., London and Toronto JM Dent and Sons Ltd. 1910, reprinted 1920.   Wulfric and Donata  
Masks and Masking in Medieval and Early Tudor England, Meg Twycross and Sarah Carpenter, Pub: Ashgate, 2002 0-7546-0230-3 Hirsch and Aldith  
The Mediaeval Stage, E. K. Chambers, Pub: Dover 0-486-29229-0 Hirsch and Aldith  
The Medieval Theater in Castile, Charlotte Stern, Pub: Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1996 0-86698-196-9 Hirsch and Aldith  
The Theater Props Handbook, Thurston James, Pub: Better Way Books, 1987 0-932620-86-8 Hirsch and Aldith  
Commedia dell'Arte Books
TITLEISBNLibrary ofRecommended
Commedia dell'Arte, The, Giacomo Oreglia, Pub: Hill and Wang, 1968 Hirsch and Aldith Yes
Commedia dell'Arte: An Actor's Handbook, John Rudlin, Pub: Routledge, 1994 0-415-047706 Hirsch and Aldith,
Juan and Rose,
Wulfric and Donata		 Yes
Commedia dell'Arte: A Handbook for Troupes, John Rudlin and Olly Crick, Pub: Routledge, 2001 0-415-20409-7 Hirsch and Aldith,
Wulfric and Donata		 Yes
The Comic Mask in the Commedia Dell'Arte: Actor Training, Improvisation, and the Poetics of Survival, Antonio Fava, Pub: Northwestern, 2007 978-0-8101-2368-7 Hirsch and Aldith  
Lazzi: The Comic Routines of the Commedia dell'Arte, Mel Gordon, Pub: Performing Arts Journal Publications, 1983 0-933826-69-9 Hirsch and Aldith,
Juan and Rose,
Wulfric and Donata,
Teresa,
Seamus		 Yes
Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre, Keith Johnstone, Pub: Routledge, 1987 0-87830-117-8 Hirsch and Aldith  
The Italian Comedy, Pierre Louis Duchartre, Pub: Dover, 1966 0-486-21679-9 Hirsch and Aldith Yes
Italian Comedy in The Renaissance, Mavin T. Herrick, Pub: Illini Books, 1960 Hirsch and Aldith  
Playing Commedia, Barry Grantham, Pub: Heinemann Drama, 2000 0-325-00346-7 Hirsch and Aldith,
Wulfric and Donata		  
The Prop Builder's Mask-Making Handbook, Thurston James, Pub: Better Way Books, 1990 1-55870-166-4 Hirsch and Aldith,
Juan and Rose		 Yes
Scenarios of the Commedia del'Arte (Flaminio Scala's Il Teatro Delle Favole Rappresentative), Trans. by Henry F. Salerno, Limelight Editions, 1996 0-87910-133-4 Hirsch and Aldith,
Juan and Rose,
Wulfric and Donata		 Yes
The Commedia dell'arte in Naples: A Bilingual Edition of the 176 Casamarciano Scenarios vols 1 and 2., Cotticelli, Francesco, Anne Goodrich Heck, and Thomas F. Heck, trans and ed., Lanham, MD Scarecrow Press Inc, 2001. 0-8108-4116-9 Wulfric and Donata,
Anne		 Yes
The Science of Buffoonery: Theory and History of the Commedia dell'Arte, Ed. by Domenico Pietropaolo, University of Toronto Italian Studies, Dovehouse Editions Inc., 1989 0-919473-67-9 Hirsch and Aldith  
The Tricks of the Trade, Dario Fo, Pub: Routledge, 1991 0-87830-008-2 Hirsch and Aldith Yes *
We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! and Other Plays (The Collected Plays, Vol. 1), Dario Fo, Pub: Theatre Communications Group, 2001 1-55936-182-4 Hirsch and Aldith  

* Intermediate/Advanced ...