Andrew Gurr is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Reading. As chief academic advisor, he was a key figure in the project to rebuild Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. His many publications include The Shakespearean Stage 1574-1642 (Cambridge University Press, fourth edition 2009), Playgoing in Shakespeare's London (Cambridge University Press, third edition 2004) and The Shakespearian Playing Companies (1996). Professor Gurr regularly contributes articles on Shakespeare to publications ranging from Shakespeare Survey to the Times Literary Supplement.
Review of the hardback: '... Shakespeare's Opposites is a highly recommended reading for students and scholars of early modern drama and performance history alike. It provides profound detail, specific information and reference material for the expert while offering an alternative access to the undergraduate who wants to enrich his or her appreciation of the poetic value of early modern drama with an understanding of its particular impact in performance.' Birgit Walkenhorst Review of the hardback: 'Shakespeare's Opposites is a necessary work, and an impressive one.' Around the Globe 'In Shakespeare's Opposites Gurr meets a new challenge: the near-impossible task of making historical bricks with Henslowe's straw. The result is an authoritative work, invaluable for every theatre historian and illuminating to every student of Elizabethan theatre.' Alastair Fowler, The Times Literary Supplement 'This is a groundbreaking work of repertory history by today's most learned, versatile, and acute historian of English Renaissance drama.' Charles Whitney, The Ben Jonson Journal