This chapter explores the dramatic performance of libel. Aggrieved amateur playmakers across England made canny use of costume, props, meter, and other theatrical technologies to disseminate libels. Drawing from the Star Chamber records, the first section surveys the varieties of media and performance genres employed by libelers, including festive games, pageants, songs, and shows; street theater; and professional playing. Examples such as the Wells Shows of 1607, “The Death of the Lord of Kyme” in 1601, and even Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor illustrate the thorough hybridity of libelous performance. The rest of the chapter is devoted to two major case studies: the Kendal Stage Play of 1621 and the university play Club Law (1599–1600). These are prime examples of activist theater: they aimed not just to entertain their audiences but also to mobilize them, defame them, or otherwise incite them to action. Situated in their respective local contexts – the struggle over tenant right in Kendal and town–gown conflict in Cambridge – the surviving traces of these plays document the circulation of communal feelings that made libelous performance such a potent medium for bad publicity.

The court assembled around the prince consisted of his family and ministers, but also attracted all those who might need to seek royal authority for their own affairs. Molière was one of the King’s officers and was well acquainted with this milieu, which took form throughout the seventeenth century. During the first decades of his reign in particular, Louis XIV used entertainment to keep the members of his entourage in place by offering them opportunities to meet and experience his power in a pleasant way. The Parisian theatre troupes were regularly invited to appear before the King and Molière displayed a notable talent not only in presenting his own plays but also in combining within a single spectacle – the comedy-ballets, which were the highlights of these usually composite entertainments, and which were particularly well-suited to their context – spoken drama with music, meals, balls, and even fireworks. Devised to suit the individual circumstances, theatre could thereby offer a welcome moment of relaxation, particularly during the carnival period – a true breathing space in this environment where all was constrained according to the power relations in operation.