edited by Andrew Friedman and Eero Laine
University of Michigan Press, 2026
Cloth: 978-0-472-07826-4
Paper: 978-0-472-05826-6
eISBN: 978-0-472-90605-5 (OA)
Theatre Things: Material Theories and Histories considers key theatrical objects through a comparative approach, examining the uses and histories of different parts of the theatre throughout time and across culture and geography. The ten “theatre things” at the heart of the book are: entrances, tickets, programs, concessions, seats, lights, curtains, stages, trapdoors, and exits. For every object, three different scholars offer short chapters that examine it from different angles across eras, places, and performance traditions to result in a set of diverse and provocative accounts of the many ways objects have functioned throughout theatre history. Written in an accessible style, the book draws on real examples from theatre history around the world to reveal that even the smallest details—where you sit, how the lights shift, what the program says—carry meaning. Whether you’re a regular theatregoer or a curious fan, Theatre Things offers a fresh way to look at the spaces and objects that shape every night at the theatre—and makes them feel newly interesting long after the curtain call.
Andrew Friedman is Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance and Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Ball State University.
Eero Laine is Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Buffalo, State University of New York.
“Theatre Things offers pithy, poignant investigations into myriad objects that accompany spectators through a performance. The program, actors’ headshots, the seat upholstery, the concessions for sale, and more, contribute tangible effects to the meaning-making magic of performance’s ephemerality. A revelatory, teachable examination of our transformative contact with performance’s ‘stuff.”’
— Jill Dolan, author of Feminist Spectator as Critic and Utopia in Performance: Finding Hope at the Theater“Andrew Friedman and Eero Laine have brought together an impressive group of emerging and leading theatre and performance studies scholars. This book is remarkably sound and elegantly written, with chapters that reflect the authors’ deep, and often playful, engagement with ‘theatre things.’ Recentering the conversation about theatrical objects on human behaviors by asking ‘how can theatre things help audiences make meaning?’ Theatre Things invites readers to rethink the theatregoing experience.”
— Marlis Schweitzer, York University“Finally, theatre things get their own book-length study! Andrew Friedman and Eero Laine have brought together a stunning contributor list comprising some of our field's foundational scholars and most exciting new voices. Each case study contributes in surprising and unique ways to ongoing conversations about the materiality of the theatre and the phenomenology of objects.”
— Scott Magelssen, author of Simming: Participatory Performance and the Making of Meaning and co-editor of Enveloping Worlds: Toward a Discourse of Immersive Performance“Theatre Things provides students with a lively and accessible introduction to the theatre historian’s craft, featuring contributions from many of the field’s leading voices. This thoughtfully curated collection expands the boundaries of theatre history, moving beyond plays, players, and playhouses to consider the objects, large and small, from which the theatrical experience is constructed.”
— Henry Bial, author of Playing God: The Bible on the Broadway Stage and Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage and ScreenLicense: CC BY-NC
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