Rome was a recurring theme throughout Shakespeare's career, from the celebrated Julius Caesar, to the more obscure Cymbeline. In this book, Paul Innes assesses themes of politics and national identity in these plays through the common theme of Rome. He especially examines Shakespeare's interpretation of Rome and how he presented it to his contemporary audiences. Shakespeare's depiction of Rome changed over his lifetime, and this is discussed in conjunction with the emergence of discourses on the British Empire. Each chapter focuses on a play, which is thoroughly analysed, with regard to both performance and critical reception. Shakespeare's plays are related to the theatrical culture of their time and are considered in light of how they might have been performed to his contemporaries. Innes engages strongly with both the plays the most current scholarship in the field.

From the Royal Shakespeare Company - a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare's great drama of ambition, desire and guilt. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of Macbeth in performance, takes a detailed look at specific productions, and recommends film versions. Included in this edition are three interviews with leading directors - Rupert Goold, Gregory Doran and Trevor Nunn - providing an illuminating insight into the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible. This edition also includes an essay on Shakespeare's career and Elizabethan theatre, and enables the reader to understand the play as it was originally intended - as living theatre to be enjoyed and performed. Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare editions offer a fresh, accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare's works for the twenty-first century.

TC's life is a busy one, filled with the physical demands of her job as a mail carrier and her dreams to play basketball, not to mention the demands of her convoluted love life. Her girlfriend, Samantha, is one beautiful and powerful woman--and a cop. Jealousy seems to be the unavoidable side effect of their open relationship, and though they each have a lover on the side, each fears loss and heartbreak. Are any of them meant to be together? Is Samantha "the one" for TC--or is her true love still out there somewhere?Jay, TC's best friend, supports her, but he has his own issues. A jock and a player, Jay considers himself a real ladies' man, but on the day he meets Carly, everything he thinks he knows about himself is called into question. Carly has only recently started living her life as a woman, and she's got to balance her natural attraction to Jay with her fear that he will reject her when he learns the truth. As Jay does his best to give TC advice on her own love life, he's got some big decisions to make himself. Is Carly his destiny? Is he hers?Things may not always go as planned, but that's the beauty of life and relationships--and this is especially true in The Million Dollar Story.

What happens when two sets of parent's meet up to deal with the unruly behaviour of their children? A calm and rational debate between grown-ups about the need to teach kids how to behave properly? Or a hysterical night of name-calling, tantrums and tears before bedtime? Boys will be boys, but the adults are usually worse - much worse. God of Carnage won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy and the Tony award for Best Play.

Published alongside The Japan Foundation, this collection features five creative and bold plays by some of Japan's most prolific writers of contemporary theatre. Translated into English for the first time, these texts explore a wide range of themes from dystopian ideas of the future to touching domestic tragedies. Brought together in one volume, introduced by the authors and The Japan Foundation, this collection offers English language readers an unprecedented look at some of Japan's finest works of contemporary drama by writers from across the country. The plays include: The Bacchae-Holstein Milk Cows by Satoko Ichihara (Translated by Aya Ogawa) This play takes themes of the ancient Greek tragedy Bacchae by Euripides to examine various aspects of contemporary society, from love and sex, man and woman, intermixture of different species, discrimination and abuse, to artificial insemination, criticism of anthropocentricism and more. It was the winner of the 64th Kishida Drama Award. One Night by Yuko Kuwabara (Translated by Mari Boyd) The setting is a small taxi company run out of the home of its owner in a country town. One night the mother, Koharu Inamura, decides to leave the home in order to protect her children from her husband's domestic violence, promising them that she will come back in 15 years. The play depicts the family's reunion after having to live with the burden of that one night's (hitoyo) incident and how they restarted their lives after it. Isn't Anyone Alive? by Shiro Maeda (Translated by Miwa Monden) This laid back, absurdist work examines death through a goofy lens. In the play, strange urban legends abound in a university hospital where young people die one after another, all with mobile phones in their hands. The Sun by Tomohiro Maekawa (Translated by Nozomi Abe) Depicts young people torn apart in a near future setting where humanity has split into two forms: Nox humans who can only go out at night, and Curios, the original type of humans that can live under the sun. Carcass by Takuya Yokoyama (Translated by Mari Boyd) This play takes its name from the Japanese word for dressed carcasses of beef and pork that have been halved along the backbone for meat . It deals with the dignity of being alive as seen through the lives of workers in the meat industry based on interviews and research. It won the Japan Playwrights Association's 15th New Playwright Award in 2009.

Kein Stein bleibt auf dem anderen, seit Alik Sokolov als Kredithai in Deutschland das Zepter schwingt. Was Wunder aber auch bei den Wucherzinsen fur Start-ups wie Mobit, ein Unternehmen, das drauf und dran ist, mit der klassischen Teleportation in die Annalen einzugehen. Und selbst wenn die Autohersteller demnach wenigstens noch uber den Personenverkehr gebieten, haben die so schon durch den chinesischen Vorstoss von Middle Kingdom genug Probleme am Hals. Der Grund jedenfalls fur Kleinanleger wie Andrey Zosimoff, die Mittel aus heimischen Traditionsunternehmen abzuziehen und sie stattdessen Zockern wie Alik Sokolov und sohin Mobit anzuvertrauen. Paradoxerweise investiert Mobit allerdings die erhaltenen Gelder in Middle Kingdom. Und erst scheint die Rechnung auch aufzugehen, ist der Borsengang der Chinesen ein Mordserfolg und vermag Mobit mit dem Verkauf einzelner Papiere den Zahlungsaufforderungen Alik Sokolovs spielend nachzukommen. Wie sich freilich der MK Mini als Reinfall entpuppt und sich die institutionellen Investoren nach und nach von ihren Papieren trennen, ist die Kacke am Dampfen, ruhrt selbst eine Mutti, die Frau Bundeskanzlerin, vergeblich die Trommel ... Unter der Rose ist eine Politsatire, kurzweilig, spritzig, pfiffig, phasenweise spannend auch wie ein Thriller. Von Prostitution uber Mord bis hin zum schmahlichen Vertrauensmissbrauch und Ende einer Freundschaft bietet sie alles, um den Leser auf seiner Reise zur versohnlichen Losung bei Laune zu halten

"The Psychology of Screenwriting "is more than an interesting book on the theory and practice of screenwriting. It is also a philosophical analysis of predetermination and freewill in the context of writing and human life in our mediated world of technology. Drawing on humanism, existentialism, Buddhism, postmodernism and transhumanism, and diverse thinkers from Meister Eckhart to Friedrich Nietzsche, Theodor Adorno, Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard and Gilles Deleuze, "The Psychology of Screenwriting" will be of use to screenwriters, film students, philosophers and all those interested in contemporary theory. This book combines in-depth critical and cultural analysis with an elaboration on practice in an innovative fashion. It explores how people, such as those in the Dogme 95 movement, have tried to overcome traditional screenwriting, looking in detail at the psychology of writing and the practicalities of how to write well for the screen. This is the first book to include high-theory with screenwriting practice whilst incorporating the Enneagram for character development. Numerous filmmakers and writers, including David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, David Cronenberg, Pedro Almodovar, Darren Aronofsky, Sally Potter and Charlie Kaufman are explored. "The Psychology of Screenwriting "is invaluable for those who want to delve deeper into writingfor the screen.