Working from the premise that the stage performer's primary functions derive from celebrative rituals, this book describes the figure of the actor as anti-character in premodern popular theatre. Particularly in plays belonging to the popular, performative tradition, the actor simultaneously impersonated and subverted the character of the playtext. By doing so, he affirmed the ritual-celebrative authority of the performer and audience over the ideological authority of the written text. Included are close analyses of three major playtexts in performance: Aristophanes' Frogs, the...

Seven years have passed since Orris, a mage of Tobyn-Ser's Order, returned from the violent chaos of Bragor-Nal. The threat of attack from Lon-Ser has been eliminated, but the establishment of trade between Tobyn-Ser and its western neighbor has brought new and disturbing changes to the land. Large tracts of woodland have been logged and sold off in exchange for more of Lon-Ser's "advanced goods." The Order and the League continue their struggle for supremacy, and a new force, a "People's Movement," has allied itself with so-called independent mages who claim no ties to either body.