ABSTRACT
In the main, however, sound in classical drama involved the imitation of natural sound by artificial means. Where no device existed to produce a sound, one was either invented by a resourceful craftsman, or the information was written into the text. Information about time of day, the weather, the seasons of the year and the location is given in the text of these plays, and the audience used their imagination to fill in the gaps. Shakespeare’s plays are full of location hints: This is the Forest Of Arden . . . ’; ‘What country, friend, is this? It is Illyria, my lady . . . ’, and statements about the weather, surroundings and time of day: This castle hath a pleasant seat . . . ’; ‘How goes the night, boy?’; ‘The night has been unruly. Where we lay/Our Chimneys were blown down . . . ’.
