"This book investigates the political dimensions of Czech Shakespeare appropriation and production in the wake of the fall of communism, uncovering an anxious struggle between dimensions of Czech nationhood that comes to a head in a competition for a 'true' Shakespeare, and addressing key issues such as gender, globalization and national culture"--

Using themed performance reviews and extensive interviews with theatre professionals, this book explores how Shakespeare's 'cultural capital' has been evoked in the reinvention of a post-communist nation against a backdrop of political tensions surrounding the ascendance of Central and Eastern Europe to the European Union.