John Field, an ordained minister in the Established Church during the sixteenth century described playhouses as 'schools of wickedness' and 'sinks of sin'. Little did he know that, after his death, his son Nathan (Nat) Field would become one of Britain's most celebrated players and playwrights. Impressed under royal warrant to become a member of the Children of the Chapel Royal, Nat progressed to star in plays such as Epicene, Bartholomew Fair and Bussy d'Ambois. He later became an adult member of the King's Men, wrote two highly successful plays of his own and collaborated with writers such as Fletcher and Massinger on many more. Nat, who died at the age of thirty-one, had a considerable reputation in his own day. His career has been neglected recently but in this carefully researched biography the picture of his life is pieced together to reveal one of the most famous names in the theatre of seventeenth-century London.

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