The Shakespeare Handbooks

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Hamlet (The Shakespeare Handbooks)

This guide presents the stage life of Hamlet in a scene-by-scene and, sometimes, line-by-line commentary. In supporting chapters, readers are introduced to the three early texts, the context in which the play was written and first performed, and notable productions and films in its later history. A survey of recent criticism and a guide to further reading conclude this up-to-date account. Author: John Russell Brown. (192 pages)
Contents: The Texts and Early Performances — Sources and Cultural Context — Commentary — Key Productions and Performances — The Play on Screen — Critical Assessments — Further Reading
Level: Library/Depot

9781403920928

Macbeth (The Shakespeare Handbooks)

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This guide leads the reader through Macbeth with a commentary that shows how the dialogue can come alive in performance and what needs to happen on stage. This central feature is preceded by an account of the play's first publication, early performances and the probable additions to an original version. It is followed by an introduction to the social and cultural context for the play's composition, which uses quotations from contemporary works and extracts from Shakespeare's sources. Studies of landmark productions and films, together with a wide sampling of critical writings, complete an instructive guide. Author: John Russell Brown. (172 pages)
Contents: The Text and Early Performances — Commentary — The Play's Sources and Cultural Context — Key Productions and Performances — The Play on Screen — Critical Assessments — Further Reading
Level: Library/Depot

9781403920935

Merchant of Venice (The Shakespeare Handbooks)

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This volume raises all the questions about the cultural, historical and critical contexts of The Merchant of Venice, but has as its primary focus the play as theatrical performance. This focus is not taken in isolation, but observed in terms of all the social, material and practical aspects of theatrical production. The questions raised are those that face actors, stage managers and directors in the rehearsal room and on the stage. Author: Christopher McCullough. (192 pages)
Contents: The Text and Early Performances — Commentary — Cultural Context and Sources — Key Productions and Performances — The Play on Screen — Critical Assessments — Further Reading
Level: Library/Depot

9781403939609

Much Ado about Nothing (The Shakespeare Handbooks)

This book will help readers progress through Much Ado about Nothing, providing a scene-by-scene commentary that emphasizes the experience of the play in performance. The play's engagement with gender identity, gender relationships, and other important themes are explored in sections on cultural history and literary background, major critical works, and film and theatrical interpretations. Author: Roger Apfelbaum. (176 pages)
Contents: The Text and Early Performances — Commentary — The Play's Sources and Cultural Context — Key Productions and Performances — The Play on Screen — Critical Assessments — Further Reading
Level: Library/Depot

9781403993588

Tempest (The Shakespeare Handbooks)

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The commentary at the heart of this book introduces readers to the challenge of reading The Tempest as a text and responding to the play in performance. Other sections discuss early performances and cultural contexts (with quotations from contemporary works). A wide-ranging sample of critical responses accompanies consideration of key performances and productions on stage and film. A further section examines the ways that other writers and political thinkers have used the play to develop their own ideas. Author: Trevor Griffiths. (176 pages)
Contents: The Text and Early Performances — Commentary — The Play's Sources and Cultural Context — Key Productions and Performances — The Play on Screen — Critical Assessments — Further Reading
Level: Library/Depot

9781403934789

Twelfth Night (The Shakespeare Handbooks)

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This book opens up Twelfth Night as a play to see and hear, provides useful contextual and source material, and considers the critical and theatrical reception over four centuries. A detailed performance commentary brings to life the many moods of Shakespeare's subtle but robust humour. Students are encouraged to imagine the theatrical challenges of Shakespeare's Illyria afresh for themselves, as well as the thought, creative responses and wonder it has provoked. Author: Paul Edmondson. (176 pages)
Contents: The Text and Early Performances — Commentary — Cultural Context and Sources — Key Productions and Performances — The Play on Screen — Critical Assessments — Further Reading
Level: Library/Depot

9781403920942