Roaring boys

"In the late 1580s a new kind of entertainment flowered in London - professional theatre. With it came custom-built playhouses, incredible staging, and a host of new writers, poets and playwrights - the roaring boys. Judith Cook gives us a behind-the-scenes view of this golden age of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre and reveals the scandal, drama, humour and tragedy that coloured the lives of Shakespeare, Jonson and Marlowe - already famous in their own time - as well as lesser-known playwrights and players." "This lively book ranges from the birth of the first purpose-built theatre in 1578 to 1620 when the great age came to an end. It will appeal to anyone with an interest in theatre, or in Elizabethan or Jacobean history."--Jacket.