"An honest, even profound reflection on the price of fame, with some genuine sexual frisson and an undercurrent of pathos." - The Hollywood Reporter At the centre of his own universe sits matinee idol Garry Essendine: suave, hedonistic and too old, says his wife, to be having numerous affairs - his line of harmless, infatuated debutantes is largely tolerated but playing closer to home is not. Just before he escapes on tour to Africa the full extent of his misdemeanours is discovered... and all hell breaks loose. Noël Coward's Present Laughter premiered in the early years of the Second World War just as such privileged lives were threatened with fundamental social change, and remains one of the playwright's most enduring hits. This new edition is published in Methuen Drama's iconic Modern Classics series to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Coward's death and features a new introduction by Russell Jackson.

The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Screen provides a lively guide to film and television productions adapted from Shakespeare's plays. Offering an essential resource for students of Shakespeare, the companion considers topics such as the early history of Shakespeare films, the development of 'live' broadcasts from theatre to cinema, the influence of promotion and marketing, and the range of versions available in 'world cinema'. Chapters on the contexts, genres and critical issues of Shakespeare on screen offer a diverse range of close analyses, from 'Classical Hollywood' films to the BBC's Hollow Crown series. The companion also features sections on the work of individual directors Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Franco Zeffirelli, Kenneth Branagh, and Vishal Bhardwaj, and is supplemented by a guide to further reading and a filmography.

The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Screen provides a lively guide to film and television productions adapted from Shakespeare's plays. Offering an essential resource for students of Shakespeare, the companion considers topics such as the early history of Shakespeare films, the development of 'live' broadcasts from theatre to cinema, the influence of promotion and marketing, and the range of versions available in 'world cinema'. Chapters on the contexts, genres and critical issues of Shakespeare on screen offer a diverse range of close analyses, from 'Classical Hollywood' films to the BBC's Hollow Crown series. The companion also features sections on the work of individual directors Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Franco Zeffirelli, Kenneth Branagh, and Vishal Bhardwaj, and is supplemented by a guide to further reading and a filmography.

One of the nineteenth century's most successful and most frequently revived plays, An Ideal Husband has divided critics more than any other of Wilde's plays. Treating political intrigue, financial fraud, blackmail, scandal and spin, and the role of women in public life, it is a play which engaged with issues of vital importance to its late-Victorian audience, which continue to resonate today. Sos Eltis, a specialist in Victorian drama and its relation to women's issues, provides a stimulating new perspective on An Ideal Husband, through an introduction that looks at its relation with contemporary social purity campaigns, women's rights, and political scandals. The introduction also gives a substantial performance history, with particular reference to the play's film versions and the influential Peter Hall theatre production.

Shakespeare Films in the Making examines the production and reception of five feature-length Shakespeare films from the twentieth century, focusing on the ways in which they articulate visions of their Shakespearean originals, of the fictional worlds in which the films are set, and of the movie-makers' own society. Warner Brothers' 1935 A Midsummer Night's Dream and MGM's 1936 Romeo and Juliet were products of the Hollywood system and reflect the studios' desire to enhance their status with 'prestige pictures'. Olivier's 1944 Henry V was part of Britain's cultural war effort and embodies visions of the medieval past and ideal leadership. The Romeo and Juliet films of Renato Castellani (1954) and Franco Zeffirelli (1968) embodied visions of Renaissance Italy that contrast - in differing ways - with MGM's film. This book offers readings of these significant and influential films, supported by extensive archival research, including studio documents, script revisions, publicity materials and reviews.

Film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays are increasingly popular and now figure prominently in the study of his work and its reception. This Companion is a lively collection of critical and historical essays on the films adapted from, and inspired by, Shakespeare's plays. Chapters have been revised and updated from the first edition to include the most recent films and scholarship. An international team of leading scholars discuss Shakespearean films from a variety of perspectives: as works of art in their own right; as products of the international movie industry; and as the work of particular directors from Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles to Franco Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh. They also consider specific issues such as the portrayal of Shakespeare's women and the supernatural. The emphasis is on feature films for cinema, rather than television, with strong coverage of Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet.

This is the third volume of essays by actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Thirteen actors describe the Shakespearean roles they played in productions between 1987 and 1991. The plays covered include Hamlet, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure for Measure, and important theatrical rarities such as Cymbeline, Titus Andronicus, King John, and the Henry VI plays in the Royal Shakespeare Company's highly successful adaptation retitled The Plantagenets.

This is the second volume of essays by actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Fourteen actors describe the Shakespearean roles they played in productions between 1982 and 1987. A brief biographical note is provided for each of the contributors and an introduction places the essays in the context of the Stratford and London stages, and of the music and design for the particular productions.

By the turn of the century Henry Arthur Jones was among the most prominent British dramatists. A contemporary of Pinero, Wilde and Shaw, he did his best to elevate drama to the level of literature whilst constructing plays that were also successful in the commercial theatre. Though some of his contemporaries considered Jones cynical and daring, he strove to confront major issues without offending accepted social and dramatic conventions.

This volume contains three of Jones's ninety-odd plays, representing the best of his work in different styles: melodrama and society drama. The Silver King (1882), the story of Wilfred Denver, falsely accused of murder, was Jones's first great success. It is one of the best melodramas ever written, and won high praise from Matthew Arnold, among others, for its literary merit and convincing characterisation. (An appendix describes the evolution of the present text). Jones's interest in the 'New Women' of the 1890s is expressed in the lively dialogue of The Case of Rebellious Susan (1894), whose heroine is advised to renounce her new lover and return to her faithless husband - scarcely a radical conclusion, but sympathetically handled. The Liars (1897) is a fine comedy of manners which again considers the question of marriage and the role of women in society.

Dr Jackson's full introduction places Jones in the context of late Victorian society and theatre and describes his other literary activities -- the published letters and essays on drama -- as well as discussing some of the plays not included here. The volume is illustrated by contemporary production prints.

In their own distinctive manner, each of the four actors discussed in this volume have had a profound and innovative influence on the methods of Shakespearean performance, and thus on the appreciation and interpretation of his plays. Their careers encompass almost a century of theatrical experience, from John Gielgud's childhood before the First World War to Judi Dench's performances in the first decades of the new millennium. The volume affords invaluable insights into changing approaches to the actor's craft, the aims and methods of the theatre, the institutions presenting productions and, above all, to Shakespeare's plays themselves.

Film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays are increasingly popular and now figure prominently in the study of his work and its reception. This Companion is a lively collection of critical and historical essays on the films adapted from, and inspired by, Shakespeare's plays. Chapters have been revised and updated from the first edition to include the most recent films and scholarship. An international team of leading scholars discuss Shakespearean films from a variety of perspectives: as works of art in their own right; as products of the international movie industry; and as the work of particular directors from Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles to Franco Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh. They also consider specific issues such as the portrayal of Shakespeare's women and the supernatural. The emphasis is on feature films for cinema, rather than television, with strong coverage of Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet.

This is the first book-length work to draw extensively on unpublished archive material to document the composition and reception of some of Noël Coward's most significant plays. It examines his working practices as a playwright, from manuscript to performance. This study argues that, while he did not embrace any of the more radical theatrical ‘isms’ of his time, Coward experimented with both form and content. He adapted the familiar ‘well-made’ formulas, while also emphasizing theatrical self-consciousness and an exploration of radical social and sexual relationships. After an overview of Coward’s career and the reception of his plays, the work discusses selected texts from successive phases of Coward’s career, including some unproduced or uncompleted work and perennially popular plays such as The Vortex, Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Blithe Spirit and Present Laughter. This study also explores how, in the aftermaths of two world wars, as major changes in social and political circumstances suggested new approaches to dramaturgy, Coward's post-1945 work failed to achieve the same success he had enjoyed in earlier periods. The final chapter examines Coward’s approach to his craft in response to the new theatrical and cultural environment, and the new freedom in the treatment of homosexuality represented by Suite in Three Keys and his final, uncompleted play, Age Cannot Wither.

Sir Trevor Nunn is one of the most versatile and accomplished directors in the English-speaking theatre. This book examines his achievements as a director of Shakespeare within the wider context of debates on the cultural politics of Britain's theatrical institutions in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His approach has been marked by the combination of close textual analysis with inventive theatricality, in performance spaces ranging from the large stages of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre to the intimacy of the companies' studio theatres. The principal focus of the book is on Nunn's work as director of Shakespeare during his artistic directorship of the RSC and the NT. The four core chapters focus in detail on major productions that can be said to have challenged and changed perceptions of the plays, including The Winter's Tale (RSC, 1969), the 'Roman Plays' season (RSC, 1972) and All's Well That Ends Well (RSC, 1982), and the studio productions of Macbeth (RSC 1976), Othello (RSC, 1989) and The Merchant of Venice (NT, 1999). The study draws on archive material, as well as reviews and other published commentary, including that of actors who have worked with him.

You asked for it and now you've got it
Volume 2 of the extremely popular S#*t People Text series is HERE and it is serving up even more bigger laughs than its predecessor
So what is this series of books about you ask?
Text messaging is the ultimate form of communication these days and you won't believe how some people abuse the privilege. But no worries, that's exactly why this book exists - to show you the gloriously hilarious things that can happen when modern technology meets modern (yet confounded) humans.
Whether it's clueless parents who don't know how to use their smartphones (comedy gold ), or bored, yet clever teens who want to mess around with their friends, this book does not discriminate. If it is real, if it is bizarre, and most importantly, it s#*t-in-your-pants funny, then this book has it
Here are just some of the many gems you will find inside:
Son: "Mom, stop, you are not funny. You can't make jokes."
Mom: "But, I made you...?"
---------------------------------------------------------
Girlfriend: "I hate you. I don't ever want to see you again."
Boyfriend: "Thank god."
Girlfriend: "Your an idiot."
Boyfriend: "**You're"
---------------------------------------------------------
Mom: "What does IDK, LY, & TTYL mean?
Child: "I dont know, love you, talk to you later."
Mom: "Okay, I'll ask your sister."
So "treat-yo-self" to a good laugh, a good time, and a brighter day right now You deserve it
Parents take caution - this book contains humor that is NOT suitable for children.

Do you need a really, REALLY good laugh?
If so, then you've come to the right place my friend.
Text messaging is the ultimate form of communication these days and you won't believe how some people abuse the privilege. But no worries, that's exactly why this book exists - to show you the gloriously hilarious things that can happen when modern technology meets modern (yet confounded) humans.
Whether it's clueless parents who don't know how to use their smartphones (comedy gold ), or bored, yet clever teens that want to mess around with their friends, this book does not discriminate. If it is real, if it is bizarre, and most importantly, it s#*t-in-your-pants funny, then this book has it
Here are just a few of the gems you will find inside:
Son: "Hey Dad, remember when I killed that
butterfly and you said 'no butter for a week?'"
Father: "Yeah?"
Son: "And when I killed that honeybee you said 'no honey for a week?'"
Father: "Yeah, that was a month ago, so what?"
Son: "Mom just killed a cockroach, should I break it to her?"
Father: .."."
--------------------------------------------------------
Friend 1: "What's your street name?"
Friend 2: "Lil Marco"
Friend 1: "You live on a street named Lil Marco?"
Friend 2: .."..oh, you wanted me street address?"
So "treat-yo-self" to a good laugh, a good time, and a brighter day You deserve it
Parents take caution - this book contains humor that is NOT suitable for children.

Theatres on film is an innovative contribution to the study of both theatre and film history, with its detailed discussion of popular and influential films that have taken the theatre as their subject, informed by a strong sense of the cultural and historical background. This book focuses on the significance and effect of theatrical subject matter in key films in several genres, and range from Busby Berkeley to Ingmar Bergman, and from the haunted backstage world of The Phantom of the Opera to the sinister glamour of The Red Shoes and the theatrical politics of Mephisto and The Lives of Others. Theatres on film will appeal to film- and theatregoers, as well as to readers with an academic or professional interest in its subject. -- .

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1592. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and motifs with which he would later deal in more detail; for example, it is the first of his plays in which a heroine dresses as a boy. The play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the foolish behaviour of people in love. The highlight of the play is considered by some to be Launce, the clownish servant of Proteus, and his dog Crab, to whom "the most scene-stealing non-speaking role in the canon" has been attributed. As the play begins, Valentine is preparing to leave Verona for Milan so as to broaden his horizons. He begs his best friend, Proteus, to come with him, but Proteus is in love with Julia, and refuses to leave. Disappointed, Valentine bids Proteus farewell and goes on alone. Meanwhile, Julia is discussing Proteus with her maid, Lucetta, who tells Julia that she thinks Proteus is fond of her. Julia, however, acts coyly, embarrassed to admit that she likes him. Lucetta then produces a letter; she will not say who gave it to her, but teases Julia that it was Valentine's servant, Speed, who brought it from Proteus. Julia, still unwilling to reveal her love in front of Lucetta, angrily tears up the letter. She sends Lucetta away, but then, realising her own rashness, she picks up the fragments of letter and kisses them, trying to piece them back together. Meanwhile, Proteus' father has decided that Proteus should travel to Milan and join Valentine. He orders that Proteus must leave the next day, prompting a tearful farewell with Julia, to whom Proteus swears eternal love. The two exchange rings and vows and Proteus promises to return as soon as he can. In Milan, Proteus finds Valentine in love with the Duke's daughter Silvia. Despite Julia's love, Proteus falls instantly in love with Silvia and vows to win her. Unaware of Proteus' feelings, Valentine tells him that the Duke wants Silvia to marry the foppish but wealthy Thurio, against her wishes. Because the Duke suspects that his daughter and Valentine are in love, he locks her nightly in a tower, to which he keeps the only key. However, Valentine tells Proteus that he plans to free her by means of a corded ladder, and together, they will elope. Proteus immediately informs the Duke, who subsequently captures and banishes Valentine. While wandering outside Milan, Valentine runs afoul of a band of outlaws, who claim they are also exiled gentlemen. Valentine lies, saying he was banished for killing a man in a fair fight, and the outlaws elect him their leader. Valentine Rescuing Silvia from Proteus by William Holman Hunt (1851) Meanwhile, in Verona, Julia decides to join her lover in Milan. She convinces Lucetta to dress her in boy's clothes and help her fix her hair so she will not be harmed on the journey. Once in Milan, Julia quickly discovers Proteus' love for Silvia, watching him attempt to serenade her. She contrives to become his page-boy - a youth named Sebastian - until she can decide upon a course of action. Proteus sends Sebastian to Silvia with a gift of the same ring that Julia gave to him before he left Verona, but Julia discovers that Silvia scorns Proteus' affections and is disgusted that he would forget about his love back home, i.e. Julia herself. Silvia deeply mourns the loss of Valentine, who Proteus has told her is rumoured dead.

Sir Trevor Nunn is one of the most versatile and accomplished directors in the English-speaking theatre. This book examines his achievements as a director of Shakespeare within the wider context of debates on the cultural politics of Britain's theatrical institutions in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His approach has been marked by the combination of close textual analysis with inventive theatricality, in performance spaces ranging from the large stages of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre to the intimacy of the companies' studio theatres. The principal focus of the book is on Nunn's work as director of Shakespeare during his artistic directorship of the RSC and the NT. The four core chapters focus in detail on major productions that can be said to have challenged and changed perceptions of the plays, including The Winter's Tale (RSC, 1969), the 'Roman Plays' season (RSC, 1972) and All's Well That Ends Well (RSC, 1982), and the studio productions of Macbeth (RSC 1976), Othello (RSC, 1989) and The Merchant of Venice (NT, 1999). The study draws on archive material, as well as reviews and other published commentary, including that of actors who have worked with him.

Theatres on film is an innovative contribution to the study of both theatre and film history, with its detailed discussion of popular and influential films that have taken the theatre as their subject, informed by a strong sense of the cultural and historical background. This book focuses on the significance and effect of theatrical subject matter in key films in several genres, and ranges from Busby Berkeley to Ingmar Bergman, and from the haunted backstage world of The Phantom of the Opera to the sinister glamour of The Red Shoes and the theatrical politics of Mephisto and The Lives of Others. Theatres on film will appeal to film- and theatregoers, as well as to readers with an academic or professional interest in its subject. -- .

This is the first book-length work to draw extensively on unpublished archive material to document the composition and reception of some of Noel Coward's most significant plays. It examines his working practices as a playwright, from manuscript to performance. This study argues that, while he did not embrace any of the more radical theatrical 'isms' of his time, Coward experimented with both form and content. He adapted the familiar 'well-made' formulas, while also emphasizing theatrical self-consciousness and an exploration of radical social and sexual relationships. After an overview of Coward's career and the reception of his plays, the work discusses selected texts from successive phases of Coward's career, including some unproduced or uncompleted work and perennially popular plays such as The Vortex, Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Blithe Spirit and Present Laughter. This study also explores how, in the aftermaths of two world wars, as major changes in social and political circumstances suggested new approaches to dramaturgy, Coward's post-1945 work failed to achieve the same success he had enjoyed in earlier periods. The final chapter examines Coward's approach to his craft in response to the new theatrical and cultural environment, and the new freedom in the treatment of homosexuality represented by Suite in Three Keys and his final, uncompleted play, Age Cannot Wither.