Shakespeare and Realism - On the Politics of Style (Paperback)

This collection of essays examines the works of the most famous writer of plays in the English language within the most culturally pervasive genre in which they are performed. Though Realist productions of Shakespeare are central to the ways in which his work is produced and consumed in the 21st century-and has been for the last 100 years-scholars are divided on the socio-political, historical, and ethical effects of this marriage of content and style. The book is divided into two sections, the first of which focuses on how Realist performance style influences our understanding of Shakespeare's characters. These chapters engage in close readings of multiple performances, interrogating the ways in which actors' specific characterizations contribute to extremely varied interpretations of a single character. The second section then considers audiences' experiences of Shakespearean texts in Realist performance. The essays in this section-all written by theatre directors-imagine out what might constitute Realism. Each chapter focuses on a particular production, or set of productions by a single company, and considers how the practitioners utilized critically informed notions of what constitutes "the real" to reframe what Realism looks like on stage. This is a book of arguments by both theatre practitioners and scholars. Rather than presenting a unified critical position, this collection seeks to stimulate the debate around Realist Shakespeare performance, and to attend to the political consequences of particular aesthetic choices for the audience, as well as for Shakespeare critics and theatre artists.

General

Imprint:	Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Shakespeare and the Stage
Release date:	July 2020
Editors:	Peter Lichtenfels • Josy Miller
Contributors:	Robert A Barker • Yu Jin Ko • Sam Kolodezh • Peter Lichtenfels • Josy Miller • Bryan Reynolds • Kim Solga
Dimensions:	219 x 154 x 10mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	148
ISBN-13:	978-1-68393-172-0
Categories:	Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > Theatre, drama > General Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > General Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Plays & playwrights > 16th to 18th centuries > Shakespeare studies & criticism
LSN:	1-68393-172-6
Barcode:	9781683931720

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!