John A. Alford taught at Michigan State University, the University of California-Irvine, the University of Virginia, Leeds University (U.K.), and elsewhere. His works cover Chaucer to Wordsworth, from medieval rhetoric to modern critical theory. He won awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities (twice) and the Guggenheim Foundation.

This book is a collection of 22 essays by scholars in the field of Medieval Drama, mostly relating to performance both past and present. Alford wrote one essay in the book.