Destroying Things on the Early Modern English Stage

Abstract

The deliberate destruction of props and other theatrical materials was fairly common on the early modern English stage. Characters destroy things in early modern plays for many reasons—to express spite or rage, conceal guilt, hide information, deny power, break promises, make promises, and more. These moments of spectacle were also challenges to the fabric of dramatic artifice, points when the world of the performance seemed to cross into the world of the play. This article surveys these moments and examines how such destruction is presented and how, through several performance conventions, it was used to make dramatic meaning.