English Professor Suzanne Westfall Co-Edits Major Book, Shakespeare And Theatrical Patronage In Early Modern England

Suzanne Westfall, professor of English and theater at Lafayette, is coeditor of the first extensive study of patronage as it relates to Shakespeare and the theatrical culture of his time.

Cambridge University Press recently published Shakespeare and Theatrical Patronage in Early Modern England, co-edited by Westfall, who also contributed a chapter to the 326-page volume, and Paul Whitfield White, associate professor of English, Purdue University.

In the book, 12 distinguished theater historians trace how patronage practices changed and developed from the early Tudor period to the years in which Shakespeare was the English theater’s leading artist, addressing the functions of patronage for theatre during the period; the intersection of patronage, political power, and playing; and the effects of paying spectators and purchasers of printed drama. The book is an important resource for scholars of Renaissance social history as well as those who focus on Shakespeare and his playwriting contemporaries.

“As much as it may be commonplace now to claim that all drama in early modern England operated within the confines of patronage, the essays in this volume attempt to fully explore that assertion,” the introduction states. “In some instances, as illustrated by the wedding masques of Henry VII’s court, anonymous artisans and writers seem to have unselfconsciously labored to advance the dynastic claims of the monarch, in others they may have attempted to assert their autonomy in the face of the demands of paying spectators. Yet playwrights and players have always perceived themselves as expendable, and in early modern England where this was acutely felt patronage was a constant concern.”

The essay written by Westfall, entitled “‘The Useless Dearness of the Diamond’: theories of patronage theatre,” explores the history of patronage theater studies as the field evolved beyond its early preoccupation with royal and noble sponsorship to its current interdisciplinary examination of relationships crossing class and regional boundaries, kinship ties, political loyalties, and economic transactions.

“Most important, shifting our analytical lenses to considerations of patronage, as the volume you hold does, permits us a fresh look at some old commonplaces, opens the doors to new players in the theatre game, and allows us to reassess so many relationships-between men and women, between public and private, between provincial and city, between artists and producers, between baronial and royal courts, between Catholics and puritans,” she writes.

In addition to Westfall and White, the contributors are David M. Bergeron, professor of English, University of Kansas; Leeds Barroll, professor of English, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; David Bevington, professor of English, University of Chicago; Milla Riggio, professor of English, Trinity University, Hartford; Alexandra F. Johnston, professor of English, University of Toronto; Mary Blackstone, professor of theater, University of Regina; Andrew Gurr, professor of English, University of Reading; Sally-Beth MacLean, executive editor of records of early English drama, University of Toronto; Michael Shapiro, professor of English, University of Illinois, Urbana; and Alexander Leggatt, professor of English, University of Toronto.

Westfall’s scholarly and artistic work ranges from early modern theater to contemporary performance art. She is author of the book Patrons and Performance: Early Tudor Household Revels, as well as articles on household theatre in collections such as Blackwell’s A Companion to English Renaissance Drama, The Cambridge History of British Theatre, Lancastrian Shakespeare: Region, Religion, Patronage and Performance, and The New History of Early Modern Drama in Honor of David Bevington.

In “Go sound the ocean, and cast your nets: Surfing the Net for Early Modern Theatre,” an article in the peer-reviewed journal Early Theater that also was presented to Shakespeare Association of America, Westfall surveyed the ways in which scholars and students of early modern theater use and abuse Internet resources, in the process discussing major gateway sites, including introductory sites for students as well as sites for professional scholars; online text sites, databases and e-journals; and the ways in which the web has and will continue to affect pedagogy.

She has presented her research at forums held by Leeds University (England), Medieval Conference, Group for Early Modern Cultural Studies, and Shakespeare Association of America.

Westfall teaches courses in acting, dramaturgy, and dramatic literature, as well as The London Theatre, a class she instructs with Michael C. O’Neill, Lafayette’s director of theater, during the January interim session between semesters. Students attend ten to 12 plays in Dublin (at the Abbey and fringe theaters) and in London (at The National, RSC, West End, and fringe theaters). The course focuses on the literary and performance aspects of Shakespeare and modern plays, with special emphasis given to post-colonial influences on playwriting and staging both in Dublin and London.

Westfall has directed more than a dozen plays at Lafayette and will direct a production of Bertholt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children at its Williams Center for the Arts in March. She also is working on a “court calendar” for the reign of Edward VI (ruled 1547-53) and an edition of plays by Obie-winning performance artist Ping Chong.

Recipient of the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for excellence in teaching and outstanding contributions to campus life, Westfall serves as an enthusiastic mentor to students. She guided Beth Wynstra ’01, for example, as she wrote the play Always Gene for her honors thesis. The play was staged on campus and at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, and later was produced by the Eugene O’Neill Foundation.

“[Professor Westfall] was such a wonderful influence and mentor in both my thesis and my life after Lafayette,” says Wynstra. “I came to the realization at the end of my senior year that if I could be to students what she was to me, I would be a happy person. She was, and continues to be, an incredible mentor for me.”

Westfall is mentoring English major Jennifer Engstrom ’03 of Sierra Vista, Ariz., as she explores the roles of female characters in English plays from the medieval period through the 17th century for an honors thesis.

“Dr. Westfall knows everything about the drama of this time period. I feel that I am smarter every time I walk out of a meeting with her,” Engstrom says. “Dr. Westfall is highly qualified as an adviser, but I know that she truly cares about me as a person as well. Many times when we meet, the thesis is discussed only after she checks to see how I am doing. She’s always willing to listen, no matter what it is I want to talk about, academic or not.”

Westfall is an adviser to Played Out, a Lafayette student theater group dedicated to educating peers about health issues including alcohol and drug abuse, sexuality, and AIDS.

“Theatre has always existed to delight and to teach, to ‘mix profit with your pleasure’ as Renaissance playwright Ben Jonson put it,” she says. “What better way to educate about harmful behaviors than to entertain?”

Westfall is a member of Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society, Modern Language Association, Shakespeare Association of America, American College Theatre Federation, and American Theatre in Higher Education. She earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and a master’s and Ph.D. in drama from University of Toronto, where she won the Clifford Leach Award for outstanding dissertation in English and drama.