Performing Transversally expands on Bryan Reynolds' controversial transversal theory in exciting ways while offering groundbreaking analyses of Shakespeare's plays--Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, Henry V, The Tempest, and Coriolanus--and textual, filmic, and theatrical adaptations of them. With his collaborators, Reynolds challenges traditional readings of Shakespeare, reevaluating the critical methodologies that characterize them, in regard to issues of cultural difference, authorship, representation, agency, and iconography. Reynolds demonstrates the value of his “investigative-expansive mode,” outlining a “transversal poetics” that points toward a critical future that is more aware of its subjective interconnectedness with the topics and audiences it seeks to engage than is reflected in most Shakespeare criticism and literary-cultural scholarship.

This volume offers a new introduction which provides a wide-ranging survey of criticism of "Macbeth" and four new essays. The new essays from Muriel Bradbrook, Malcolm Evans, Graham Holderness and Germaine Greer bring this edition up-to-date with current critical approaches. The essays are contributed by - A.C. Bradley, S. Freud, G. Wilson Knight, C. Spurgeon, J. Masefield, C. Brooks, L.C. Knight's, M. Bradbrook, G. Holderness, G. Greer and M. Evans.

First published in 1971. This volume explains and analyses the last plays of Shakespeare as dramatic structures. Beginning from the dark comedies, the author describes the ways in which Shakespeare was affected by the new techniques and possibilities for drama opened up by the innovations of the years after 1600, notably by the rise in children's companies. The main line of development of Shakespeare's dramatic skills is shown as leading from the dark comedies, through the late tragedies, to the last plays. A major part of the book is devoted to analyses of Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest and King Henry VIII.

Since the mid-1950s, when the works of Samuel Beckett began to attract sustained critical attention, commentators have tended either to dismiss his oeuvre as nihilist or defend it as anti-nihilist. On the one side are figures such as Georg Lukacs; on the other, some of the most influential philosophers and literary theorists of the post-war era, from Theodor Adorno to Alain Badiou. Taking as his point of departure Nietzsche's description of nihilism as the 'uncanniest of all guests', Weller calls this critical tradition into question, arguing that the relationship between Beckett's texts and nihilism is one that will always be missed by those who are simply for or against Beckett. (Legenda 2005)

This study offers students, performers and general readers alike an expansive introduction to the rich history and exciting performance potential of Shakespeare's play. An extensive commentary focuses on the challenges to actors and directors in putting Richard III onstage, and encourages the reader to engage imaginatively with Shakespeare's words. Separate chapters on stage, film, textual and critical history combine with the commentary to form a comprehensive and wide-ranging study of one of Shakespeare's most popular and theatrically thrilling plays.

First published in 1951. 'The book has the sterling qualities of shrewd sense and acumen that mark the 'rational' classical school of Shakespeare criticism.' Notes and Queries 'Professor Duthie's approach is direct and extremely objective. With no axe to grind, he pays impartial court to most of the great schools of Shakespearian criticism.' Cambridge Daily News 'Professor Duthie has much to say that is wise and judicious'. Times Literary Supplement. Contents include: Shakespeare's Characters and Truth to Life; Shakespeare and the Order-Disorder Antithesis; Comedy; Imaginative Interpretation and Troilus and Cressida; History; Tragedy; The Last Plays.

FIRST WITCH. When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain? SECOND WITCH. When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won. THIRD WITCH. That will be ere the set of sun. FIRST WITCH. Where the place? SECOND WITCH. Upon the heath. THIRD WITCH. There to meet with Macbeth. FIRST WITCH. I come, Graymalkin.

What is the relation between the language being heard and the picture being simultaneously exhibited on the stage? Typically there is an identity between sound and sight, but often there is a divergence between what the audience hears and what is sees. These divergences are 'insets' and examines the motives, mechanics and poetic qualities of these narrative poems embedded in the plays.

First published in 1986. 'Impressively open to the complexity of cultural discourses, to the ways in which one discursive form may function as a screen for another above all to the political entailment of genre.'Stephen Greenblatt. What is the relation between literary and political power? How do the symbolic dimensions of social practice and the social dimensions of artistic practice relate to one another? Power on Display considers Shakespeare's progression from romantic comedies and history plays to tragedy and romance in the light of the general process of cultural change in the period.

First published in 1957. This edition re-issues the second edition of 1965. Recognized as one of the leading books in its field, The English History Play in the Age of Shakespeare presents the most comprehensive account available of the English historical drama from its beginning to the closing of the theatres in 1642 and relates this development to Renaissance historiography and Elizabethan political theory.

In a moment of intense uncertainty surrounding the means, ends, and limits of (countering) terrorism, this study approaches the recent theatres of war through theatrical stagings of terror. Theatre on Terror: Subject Positions in British Drama charts the terrain of contemporary subjectivities both 'at home' and 'on the front line'. Beyond examining the construction and contestation of subject positions in domestic and (sub)urban settings, the book follows border-crossing figures to the shifting battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. What emerges through the analysis of twenty-one plays is not a dichotomy but a dialectics of 'home' and 'front', where fluid, uncontainable subjects are constantly pushing the contours of conflict. Revising the critical consensus that post-9/11 drama primarily engages with 'the real', Ariane de Waal argues that these plays navigate the complexities of the discourse - rather than the historical or social realities - of war and terrorism. British 'theatre on terror' negotiates, inflects, and participates in the discursive circulation of stories, idioms, controversies, testimonies, and pieces of (mis)information in the face of global insecurities.

This ground-breaking collection explores the assumptions behind and practices for performance implicit in the manuscripts and playtexts of the medieval and early modern eras, focusing on work which engages with performance-oriented research.

Series Information:
Routledge Literary Sourcebooks

Making Shakespeare is a lively introduction to the major issues of the stage and print history, whilst also raising questions about what a Shakespeare play actually is. Tiffany Stern reveals how London, the theatre, the actors and the way in which the plays were written and printed all affect the 'Shakespeare' that we now read. Concentrating on the instability and fluidity of Shakespeare's texts, her book discusses what happened to a manuscript between its first composition, its performance on stage and its printing, and identifies traces of the production system in the plays we read. She argues that the versions of Shakespeare that have come down to us have inevitably been formed by the contexts from which they emerged; being shaped by, for example, the way actors received and responded to their lines, the props and music used in the theatre, or the continual revision of plays by the playhouses and printers. Allowing a fuller understanding of the texts we read and perform, Making Shakespeare is the perfect introduction to issues of stage and page. A refreshingly clear, accessible read, this book will allow even those with no expert knowledge to begin to contextualize Shakespeare's plays for themselves, in ways both old and new.

This book shows that the sounds of the early modern stage do not only signify but are also significant. Sounds are weighted with meaning, offering a complex system of allusions. Playwrights such as Jonson and Shakespeare developed increasingly experimental soundscapes, from the storms of King Lear (1605) and Pericles (1607) to the explosive laboratory of The Alchemist (1610). Yet, sound is dependent on the subjectivity of listeners; this book is conscious of the complex relationship between sound as made and sound as heard. Sound effects should not resound from scene to scene without examination, any more than a pun can be reshaped in dialogue without acknowledgement of its shifting connotations. This book listens to sound as a rhetorical device, able to penetrate the ears and persuade the mind, to influence and to affect. -- .

Drawing comparisons between consultancy and the classical tragedy, King Lear, the author explores the core theme of responsibility. Arguing that King Lear is vital to gaining an understanding of consulting, leadership and management, the author explores in detail the positive lessons to be learnt from this tragedy for the manager and the management consultant. Erik de Haan is a Senior Organisation Development Consultant at Ashridge Consulting. He specialises in the interpersonal and dramatic aspects of working in groups and organisations. He has worked as a trainer and consultant for different firms in the Netherlands.

This book explores the themes of colonial encounters and postcolonial contests over identity, power and culture through the prism of theatre. The author examines the work of prominent Nigerian and British playwrights who came of age after the passing of the British Empire.

Supernatural elements are of central significance in many of Shakespeare's plays, contributing to their dramatic power and intrigue. Ghosts haunt political spaces and internal psyches, witches foresee the future and disturb the present, fairies meddle with love and a magus conjures a tempest from the elements. Although written and performed for early modern audiences, for whom the supernatural, whether sacred, demonic or folkloric, was part of the fabric of everyday life, the supernatural in Shakespeare continues to enthrall audiences and readers, and maintains its power to raise a range of questions in contemporary contexts. This edited collection of twelve essays from an international range of contemporary Shakespeare scholars explores the supernatural in Shakespeare from a variety of perspectives and approaches, generating new knowledge and presenting hitherto unexplored avenues of enquiry across the Shakespearean canon. -- .

Designed as a complement to the sections of pre-Shakespearean and Elizabethan comedies already published in The World's Classics as part of a series of anthologies of the English drama.

Since Hedda Gabler exploded on to European and American stages in the 1890s, the play and its title character have troubled and transfixed audiences, performers and critics the world over. In this Routledge Literary Sourcebook, Christopher Innes balances essential reprinted texts with clear, incisive commentary to:
*set the play within the contexts of Norwegian nationalism, the women's movement and the cultural movement of Naturalism
*examine and emphasize the links between - the performance and criticism of the play, from 1890 to the present
*offer the ideal guide to key passages in the play, showing how a knowledge of the play's contexts, performance history and critical fortunes can give rise to exciting new readings of the text
*prepare readers for further study of the play, with suggestions for reading on specific issues of interest.
No student should be without this guide as they enter the fascinating world of Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen and Naturalist theater.

This clearly introduces the many critical issues surrounding this complex and haunting play. Ioppolo examines sources, from Holinshed to Spencer, and in the Interpretations section looks at critical readings and notable performances of the play. These range from early critical responses and performances to recent stage and screen interpretations. Edited key passages connect the play to its contexts and criticism, providing both a guide and a new perspective on King Lear. Careful annotation explains Shakespeare's language. This Routledge Literary Sourcebook is ideal introduction for undergraduates, providing orientation in the play, its reception history and the critical material which surrounds it. It examines King Lear within its literary and cultural contexts, bringing together:
*contemporary documents surrounding King Lear
*performance history
*early critical reception from major critics
*twentieth-century criticism
*key passages.
All documents are discussed and explained. The volume also offers carefully annotated key passages from the play itself and concludes with a list of recommended editions and further reading, allowing readers to pursue their study in the areas that interest them most. Grace Ioppolo's broad-ranging analysis and the wealth of materials she brings together make this the ideal guide for any student of King Lear.