In this new edition of Raymond William’s 1954 work, a method of dramaturgical rather than literary-critical analysis of plays is introduced. Dramatic texts are placed in relation to the conditions and conventions of their original performance and read to reveal their potential for performances. This method anticipated contemporary developments as performance analysis and the semiotics of drama. In this work, the method is applied to texts from important periods within the history of drama: the Greek stage, the medieval theatre-in-the round and pageant-wagon, the Elizabethan public playhouse, London commercial theatres from the Restoration to the late 19th century, the naturalist stage of the Moscow Art Theatre, 20th century experimental drama, and contemporary film.