Shakespeare's ear: dark, strange, and fascinating tales from the world of theater

Introduction: The grim and the unusual in the history of western theater

Act I: The strange lives and odd fates of playwrights, actors, theater companies, and more

The ancient world

Ancient Greece and Rome

The Middle Ages and Renaissance

The Tudor and Stuart ages: a golden age of English theater

The seventeenth century

The eighteenth century

The nineteenth century

The modern age

Intermission

Act II: A dark and weird theatrical miscellany

The Shakespeare you may not know

The Commedia dell'arte

The bloody theater

An abundance of superstitions, curses, and bad luck

Haunted theaters

An encore of theatrical oddities

Exit stage left.