These studies take stage history as a means of knowing the play. Half of the studies deal with casting - doubling, chorus and the crowd, the star of Hamlet and Measure for Measure. Then the transformations of dramatis personae are analyzed and The Tempest is viewed through the changing relationships of Prospero, Ariel and Caliban. Some of Shakespeare’s most original strategies for audience control are studied, such as Cordelia's asides in King Lear, Richard II’s subversive laughter and the scenic alternation of pleasure and duty in Henry IV. Performance is the realization of identity. The book draws on major productions up to 1992, just before the book was originally published.

Product Description: Shakespeare’s plays are powerfully shaped by their sense of place. From Romeo and Juliet’s fiery, divided Verona to the mists and ghosts of Hamlet’s Denmark or Macbeth’s Inverness, location in Shakespeare is often as much a character as any of his protagonists...read more

Product Description: Few playwrights have been more slandered, abused or honoured in performance than William Shakespeare. First published in 1992, this collection of 300 stories focuses on Shakespeare’s plays on stage. Organised chronologically, it offers the reader the opportunity to witness the changes in theatrical approaches to Shakespeare from their own time to the present day...read more

Such leading directors as Jonathan Miller, Konrad Swinarski, Trevor Nunn, and Adrian Noble discuss the constraints and freedoms implicit in their task of interpreting Shakespeare for modern audiences

Product Description: The Art of John Webster, first published in 1972, is a study of the three extant plays of Webster known to be solely his work. These plays are seen as attempts to achieve in literature the effects of the baroque, a term which related Webster to the larger developments of European art...read more

Product Description: In this lucid and original study, first published in 1972, Ralph Berry discusses the ten comedies that run from The Comedy of Errors to Twelfth Night. Berry’s purpose is to identify the form of each play by relating the governing idea of the play to the action that expresses it...read more

Product Description: This book, first published in 1985, explores the consciousness and the experience of Shakespeare’s audience. First describing the stage’s physical impact, Ralph Berry then goes on to explore the social or tribal consciousness of the audience in certain plays...read more

Product Description: For producers and directors planning a production, several questions inevitably arise: Which play is appropriate for the contemporary audience? Should the text and setting be altered? Twelve leading contemporary directors answer these questions in interviews in this book and shed light on what Shakespeare means to them and to their audiences...read more

Product Description: First published in 1981. Each of Shakespeare's plays is in a continuous state of development in performance. This book examines major changes whilst focusing on six plays in detail: Coriolanus, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, Henry V, Hamlet and Twelfth Night...read more

Now fully updated, this guide to research work continues to be indispensable for students at school, college or university.In The Research Project: How to write it, Ralph Berry sets out in clear and concise terms the student's main tasks, in the order in which they will be encountered, covering: * choosing a topic* using the library* taking notes* shaping and composing the project* writing cross-references and bibliography An important new chapter on the internet takes into account the increasing changes in the way research can be carried out today. An example of a well-researched, clearly written paper with notes and bibliography is included for reference, and common pitfalls outlined.An esssential introduction for students just starting project work and an invaluable reference for the more experienced.

Product Description: Tragic Instance follows Shakespeare's progress through his tragedies. Each of the tragedies, including Richard III and Richard II, is studied in order of composition, and each explores the collusion between the protagonist and Fate...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: For a convenient introduction to Shakespearean topics, plays and poems, direct patrons to this authoritative resource. Beginning with Vol. 27, this illustrated series focuses on criticism published after 1960 and provides the reader with a thematic approach to Shakespeare's works...read more

Product Description: This book, first published in 1985, explores the consciousness and the experience of Shakespeare’s audience. First describing the stage’s physical impact, Ralph Berry then goes on to explore the social or tribal consciousness of the audience in certain plays...read more