This ambitious and far-ranging study of the dramatic cultures of early modern Spain and England juxtaposes, in a series of “asymmetrical comparisons,” the theater histories of Madrid and London, Seville and Bristol, Mexico City and Dublin, and finally Puebla and Williamsburg. Using an “Atlantic World approach,” Ball pays particular attention to the ways in which municipalities on both sides of the Atlantic used profits from plays to fund hospitals and poor relief (9). Rather than follow in the footsteps of Cañ1 This is a history of profits, not Prospero, in which the compelling argument revolves around leases, licenses, contracts, concessions, and taxes.
The comparisons between the paired cities are asymmetrical in the sense that they consistently show England at a disadvantage. When seen from the perspective of the Hapsburg monarchy, the dramatic cultures of Bristol, Dublin, and especially Williamsburg seem puny and belated. The insufficiency of early modern theater...