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Forthcoming Special Issue of *Early Theatre *(14:2) *Circles and Circuits: Drama and Politics in the Midlands* Guest editors: Mary Polito and Amy Scott In 2004, many scholars were aware of the book of four anonymous, undated manuscript plays held at Arbury Hall Warwickshire; very few had read them. In that year another manuscript version of one of those plays was discovered in the Special Collections Library at the University of Calgary. Led by scholars at Calgary, a team of national and international faculty and graduate students have been investigating the provenance and significance of these decidedly Caroline plays. They point to literary circles in the midlands, probable country house performances, careful political critiques of the personal rule and ‘circuits’ that pay heed to estates, the authority of patrons and the mobility of people and ideas. *Contents:* Kirsten Inglis and Boyda Johnstone ‘The Pen lookes to be canoniz’d’: John Newdigate III, Author and Scribe Siobhan C. Keenan Staging Roman History, Stuart Politics, and the Duke of Buckingham: The Example of *The Emperor’s Favourite* Margaret Jane Kidnie Trying to be Diplomatic: Editing *The Humorous Magistrate * Louis A. Knafla The Magistrate — and Humorous Magistrates — in Early Seventeenth-Century England Vimala C. Pasupathi Jockeying Jony: Horse-Racing and Regional Identity in *The Humorous Magistrate* Laura Estill Politics, Poetry, and Performance: The Miscellaneous Contents of Arbury Hall MS 414 Paul L. Faber Imported Popular Song in *The Humorous Magistrate*: 'The Noble Acts of Arthur of the Round Table' and 'Come Heare, Lady Muses' Owen Stockden John Newdigate III, Gilbert Sheldon, and MS A414 106r Amy Scott Events and Texts: The Prologues and Epilogues for the Arbury Hall 414 Plays Mary Polito ‘this rare Poetesse’: the Remains of Lady Jane Burdett -- Dr H M Ostovich <[log in to unmask]> Editor, Early Theatre Professor, English and Cultural Studies McMaster University Hamilton ON L8S 4L9 Canada