Playwrights

Abstract

Throughout English theatrical history, the relationship between playwrights and managers has been vital yet ever-changing. In the time of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), theatre companies exercised a kind of collective management over play texts (while the Stationers' Company controlled many of those same texts in print). Individual playwrights were not viewed as authors in the modern sense, and were often quite far removed from the performance process. Typically, they did not receive performance or print royalties. The position of the individual dramatist grew in esteem during the 17th century, especially post-Restoration (1660). With the Statute of Anne 1710, the author of the play text was centred as right-holder for the first time. During the 18th and 19th centuries, playwrights negotiated copyright licences and assignments via contract with individual theatre managers, who began to exercise strong powers within theatre. By the time the 20th century began, the idea of collective management of theatrical licensing had taken hold, and it largely remains in place today.