Classic plays / drama

1892 products


  • The Mystery of Hamlet An Attempt to Solve an Old

    LEGARE STREET PR The Mystery of Hamlet An Attempt to Solve an Old

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £12.30

  • LEGARE STREET PR Théâtre Complet Des Latins Comprenant Plaute

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £35.96

  • Shakespeares Sublime Pathos

    Taylor & Francis Ltd Shakespeares Sublime Pathos

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWinner of the AEDEAN Enrique García Díez Literature Research Award 2023Shakespeare's Sublime Pathos: Person, Audience, Language breaks new ground in providing a sustained, demystifying treatment of its subject and looking for answers to basic questions regarding the creation, experience, aesthetics and philosophy of Shakespearean sublimity. More specifically, it explores how Shakespeare generates experiences of sublime pathos, for which audiences have been prepared by the sublime ethos described in the companion volume, Shakespeare's Sublime Ethos. To do so, it examines Shakespeare's model of mutualistic character, in which entangled language brokers a psychic communion between fictive persons and real-life audiences and readers. In the process, Sublime Critical platitudes regarding Shakespeare's liberating ambiguity and invention of the human are challenged, while the sympathetic imagination is reinstated as the linchpin of the playwright's sublTrade Review"Complex, far-ranging, at times dazzling, there is nothing really comparable to the sweep of this work" - Clark Hulse, University of Illinois at Chicago"This is a magnum opus in every sense of the word […] A thorough, indeed breath-takingly thorough knowledge of Shakespearean writing is everywhere in evidence"- Andrew Hiscock, Bangor University"Complex, far-ranging, at times dazzling, there is nothing really comparable to the sweep of this work"--Clark Hulse, University of Illinois at Chicago"This is a magnum opus in every sense of the word […] A thorough, indeed breath-takingly thorough knowledge of Shakespearean writing is everywhere in evidence"--Andrew Hiscock, Bangor University"Taken together, then, these two works on Shakespeare’s sublime [Shakespeare’s Sublime Ethos and Shakespeare’s Sublime Pathos] represent an outstanding contribution not only to Shakespeare studies, but more broadly to intellectual history. In seeking to make intelligible the seemingly inexplicable, Sell has succeeded in revealing the secrets of the apparent magic of the sublime."--Rocío G. Sumillera, Universidad de Granada"The powerful categorizing of the sublime’s coefficients is proof of Sell’s immense merit and designates this monograph as superior research destined to become seminal in Shakespeare studies."--Zenón Luis-MartínezTable of ContentsIntroductionAims and "ethos"Plan of the workChapter 1. The Conundrum of Character, the Sublime MistookJudith’s faceAmbiguity, realism, sublimityAmbiguity, freedom, sublimityContemptus mundiChapter 2. Hollow MenLiberal humanist characterProtean personsThe moral coreFreedom of choice?Mutualistic characterMyriad mindsChapter 3. Sympathetic Imagination Sympathy and imagination Psychology and phantasiaPassionate playgoingChapter 4. Language of PassionCause and effect"Conceit deceitful"Thought in progressBotching wordsEntangled, obscure, baroqueChapter 5. The Mutualist’s DividendGoing mad with ShakespeareTranscendence?"The sticking place"General ConclusionsThe Shakespearean sublimeShakespeare’s originalityEnter perfection? Letting in the daylightEpilogue Mechanical dreamsOrsino’s luckIndex

    1 in stock

    £37.99

  • Lessons from Shakespeares Classroom

    Taylor & Francis Ltd Lessons from Shakespeares Classroom

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis volume explores the relationship between the emphasis on performance in Elizabethan humanist education and the flourishing of literary brilliance around the turn of the sixteenth century. This study asks us what lessons we can learn today from Shakespeare's Latin grammar school. What were the cognitive benefits of an education so deeply rooted in what Demosthenes and Quintilian called actioacting? Because of the vast difference between educational practice then and now, we have not often followed one essential thread: the focus on performance. This study examines the connections relevant to the education offered in schools today. This book will be of great interest to teachers, scholars, and administrators in performing arts and education.Trade Review''I guarantee that Lessons from Shakespeare's Classroom will be the most surprising, most readable learning you will do all year, and that you will laugh out loud in every chapter. Zwounds!—hie thee to these pages most expeditiously.'' Eric Booth, Actor and author of "The Everyday Work of Art," "The Music Teachers' Bible," "Playing for Their Lives," and "Tending the Perennials."''Robin Lithgow has done anyone interested in Shakespeare or education (and more particularly those of us interested in both Shakespeare and education) a great service with her book. By detailing the classical grounding of Shakespeare’s writing she shows us the great tradition of which we are a part; a tradition that expands in its inclusivity as the world changes and evolves. This tradition is the "fertile soil" that contributed to the brilliance of Shakespeare’s generation and lights a path for our own. It is truly an "education for the benefit of the commonwealth," which we perhaps need now more than ever.'' Louis Fantasia, Artistic Associate, Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles''Lithgow’s book reanimates the Erasmian spirit of teaching in all the best ways: it’s artfully copious, humanely conversational, and models throughout a witty flair for drama. Her students were fortunate; now we are, too.''Scott Newstok, author of How to Think like ShakespeareTable of ContentsTimelineCast of CharactersAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1. Time Travel: Setting the sceneChapter 2. Engagement before Information: Instruction in both colloquial and rhetorical language in Elizabethan schoolsChapter 3. Angels and Eaglets: Schoolboy actors set the sceneChapter 4. Good Behavior and Audacity: The training up of Elizabethan schoolboysChapter 5. The Lego Snap of Learning: Research in arts education and neuroscience Chapter 6. Context: The Hatch and Brood of Time: A brief history of the English ReformationChapter 7. Erasmus’ Egg: His life and his works in support of performing arts in educationChapter 8. The Delightful Mulcaster: Playmaking schoolmasters in Tudor EnglandChapter 9. Per Quam Figuram? Rhetoric in Shakespeare’s classroomChapter 10. Erasmus Writes Colloquies: Classroom training in Latin conversationChapter 11. The Little Eyases: Professional boy actors in the 16th centuryChapter 12. ConclusionBibliographyAppendix I: Performing the ColloquiesExamples of Erasmus’ Colloquies in Latin and English Proci and puellae (Courtship) Naufragium (The Shipwreck) Uxor (Marriage) Abattis et eruditae (The Abbot and the Learned Woman) Herilia (A Master’s Commands) Appendix II: Selection of Educational Drama Resources for Teachers Index

    1 in stock

    £33.24

  • Taylor & Francis Shakespeares Heartbeat

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £34.19

  • Cambridge University Press Shakespeare and Early Modern Religion

    1 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    1 in stock

    £85.50

  • Adapting King Lear for the Stage

    Taylor & Francis Ltd Adapting King Lear for the Stage

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisQuestioning whether the impulse to adapt Shakespeare has changed over time, Lynne Bradley argues for restoring a sense of historicity to the study of adaptation. Bradley compares Nahum Tate''s History of King Lear (1681), adaptations by David Garrick in the mid-eighteenth century, and nineteenth-century Shakespeare burlesques to twentieth-century theatrical rewritings of King Lear, and suggests latter-day adaptations should be viewed as a unique genre that allows playwrights to express modern subject positions with regard to their literary heritage while also participating in broader debates about art and society. In identifying and relocating different adaptive gestures within this historical framework, Bradley explores the link between the critical and the creative in the history of Shakespearean adaptation. Focusing on works such as Gordon Bottomley''s King Lear''s Wife (1913), Edward Bond''s Lear (1971), Howard Barker''s Seven Lears (1989), and the Women''s Theatre Group''s Lear''Trade Review'To historicize adaptations of Shakespeare by using character as a bridge (theoretically and pragmatically) between adapted text and adaptation allows Bradley to show well what happens when what she calls the "ironic double gesture" is invoked in order to both use and yet challenge the Bard. The shift from Bardolatry to feminist contestation is presented and enacted here with clarity and a certain brio.' Linda Hutcheon, University of Toronto, Canada '... [Bradley’s] analysis of the distinct variations in twentieth-century adaptations is fascinating... Bradley’s book ultimately becomes a solid defence of the unique value of adaptation as a way to navigate a problematic cultural heritage while evolving within it an expression for our particular cultural moment.' Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Theatre ResearchTable of ContentsContents: Introduction; 'Why this is not Lear': adaptations before the 20th century; 'Other accents borrow': Bottomley, Baring, and a new approach to adaptation; 'Only we shall retain the name': Bond's Lear and Barker's Seven Lears; 'Re-vision' of the kingdom: feminist adaptations of King Lear; Conclusion: 'The promised end'?; Bibliography; Index.

    1 in stock

    £45.99

  • The Taming of the Shrew

    Cambridge University Press The Taming of the Shrew

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis third edition of The Taming of the Shrew, one of Shakespeare's most popular yet controversial plays, includes a new introductory section which pays lively attention to twenty-first-century stage performances, textual and critical studies. Ann Thompson describes the 'deeply problematic' nature of debates about the play and its reception.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Note on the text; List of characters; The play; Textual analysis; Appendices; Reading list.

    2 in stock

    £12.29

  • A Midsummer Nights Dream Language and Writing

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC A Midsummer Nights Dream Language and Writing

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis lively and informative guide to Shakespeare''s popular comedy equips you with the critical skills to analyse its language, structure and themes and to expand and enrich your own response to the play. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a perfect play for exploring Shakespeare's diverse uses of language to reveal character and themes, from formal iambics and rhyming couplets of courtiers and lovers, and warbling' notes' and nursery rhythms of fairies, to stocky prose by the artisan players including Bottom's comic malapropisms. An introduction considers when and how the play was written, and addresses the language with which Shakespeare created A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as the generic, literary and theatrical conventions at his disposal. It then moves to a detailed examination and analysis of the play, focusing on its literary, technical and historical intricacies; an account of the play''s performance history and its critical reception completes the volume. Each cTable of ContentsPart One: Backgrounds And Contexts Part Two: The Play Part Three: The Play’s Afterlife

    1 in stock

    £21.84

  • As You Like It Arden Performance Editions

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC As You Like It Arden Performance Editions

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisI wish I had copies like this at Drama School. Essential notes on the language for those who will get up and speak it, not purely for those who will sit and study it. An incredibly useful tool with room on every page to make notes. Next time I'm in rehearsal on a Shakespeare play, I have no doubt that a copy from this series will be in my hand.' ADRIAN LESTER, Actor, Director and Writer Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Each edition offers: -Facing-page notes -Short, clear definitions of words -Easily accessible information about key textual variants -Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words -An easy to read layout -SpaTrade ReviewThese editions are likely to help not only actors and drama students but also all amateur Shakespeareans including schools and colleges which stage the plays … What genius to have Simon Russell Beale as a series editor along with two Shakespeare Institute academics, Michael Dobson and Abigail Rokison-Woodall. * Ink Pellet *Table of ContentsSeries Introduction; Introduction; As You Like It

    1 in stock

    £10.90

  • SingleSentence Shakespeare

    Sterling Juvenile SingleSentence Shakespeare

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis amusing approach to Shakespeare's classic dramas features the plot of each of the Bard's 39 plays reduced to a single descriptive sentence.

    1 in stock

    £11.69

  • The Two Gentleman of Verona

    Digireads.com The Two Gentleman of Verona

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £8.15

  • ShakespeareS Moral Compass

    Edinburgh University Press ShakespeareS Moral Compass

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis ground-breaking study fearlessly combines latest research in evolutionary psychology, historical scholarship and philosophy to answer a question that has eluded critics for centuries: what is Shakespeare's moral vision?

    1 in stock

    £22.79

  • The Power of Darkness

    Graphic Arts Books The Power of Darkness

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Power of Darkness (1886) is a play by Leo Tolstoy. Forbidden for decades in Tolstoy’s native Russia, the five-act play was first staged in Paris, where it earned praise from some of France’s leading critics. Noted for its brutal depiction of violence and desperation, the play is concerned with the universal religious and philosophical themes that inspired such masterpieces as War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). Peasant life is often portrayed in art as peaceful and romantic, in touch with the rhythms of the natural world and coursing with spirituality. In The Power of Darkness, Tolstoy refuses such empty symbolism, choosing instead to tell a story of greed, murder, and betrayal that has everything to do with the political reality faced by its impoverished characters. Fearful of what will happen to their farm when her aging husband Peter dies, Anisya seduces her farmhand Nikita, whose lack of education and opportunity—as well as a moral emptiness—make him a willing accomplice. Betraying Marinka, a young orphan girl he manipulates for pleasure, Nikita joins Anisya in dispossessing her stubborn husband. Tragic and disturbing, The Power of Darkness is a story of man at war with nature, and therefore at war with himself. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Leo Tolstoy’s The Power of Darkness is a classic work of Russian literature reimagined for modern readers.

    1 in stock

    £6.78

  • Old Fortunatus: By Thomas Dekker

    Manchester University Press Old Fortunatus: By Thomas Dekker

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWith its fantasy of magical travel and inexhaustible riches, Thomas Dekker’s Old Fortunatus is the quintessential early modern journeying play. The adventures of Fortunatus and his sons, aided by a magical purse and wishing-hat, offers the period’s most overt celebration of the pleasures of travel, as well as a sustained critique of the dangers of intemperance and prodigality. Written following a period of financial difficulty for Dekker, the play is also notable for its fascination with the symbolic, mercantile and ethical uses of gold.This Revels Plays edition is the first fully annotated, single-volume critical edition of Old Fortunatus. It offers scholarly discussion of the play’s performance and textual history, including attention to the German version printed and performed in the early seventeenth century. It provides a long overdue critical reappraisal of this unjustly neglected play.Trade Review'McInnis has produced an admirable, rigorous, and reliable scholarly edition. He has given criticism a chance to match this editorial achievement with insights of comparable height and nuance.'Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme'This new edition of Old Fortunatus is a valuable intervention. It brings the play into focus for advanced teaching and research. It suggests some of the ways Dekker’s dramaturgy embodies the possessive imagination that structures English travel writing and proto-colonial fantasy in the period.'Early Theatre'If Old Fortunatus has another moment, it might be now, when technologies of trade and travel elate and overwhelm us, and the world seems to flicker between far off and at hand. Like other Revels editions, this one offers an authoritatively edited, modernized, and annotated text, a comprehensive textual and historical introduction, and a short performance history. McInnis’s introduction and notes are exceptional even by the high standards of the Revels series, adroitly recounting the wanderings of the Fortunatus story and the complicated history of Dekker’s playtext. McInnis’s particular expertise on travel narratives and lost plays shows to advantage, as he also sets Dekker’s play into the performance context of other contemporary plays. McInnis’s Old Fortunatus is an example of how a good edition does more than simply make a play newly available; it serves as waystation to a way of grasping a new world.'SEL: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 -- .Table of ContentsList of illustrationsAbbreviationsIntroduction Authorship and the lost play(s) The text The German play Sources Performance history Critical reception Act and scene divisions Press-variantsOld FortunatusIndex

    1 in stock

    £21.00

  • The Trojan Women

    Ivan R Dee, Inc The Trojan Women

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAs bleak and agonizing a portrait of war as ever to appear on stage, The Trojan Women is a masterpiece of pathos as well as a timeless and chilling indictment of war’s brutality. The only justice in war, Euripides seems to say, is punitive and nihilistic. Nicholas Rudall’s compelling new translation continues his acclaimed work in interpreting classical drama for today’s audiences.Trade ReviewA new translation of a literary classic of pathos and war, capturing the classical drama in a new form designed as a play for performing to modern audiences. * Bookwatch *

    1 in stock

    £7.59

  • Shakespeare's King Lear: A New Variorum Edition

    Modern Language Association of America Shakespeare's King Lear: A New Variorum Edition

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisInaugurated in the 1860s, and the standard reference edition of Shakespeare's work, each volume of the New Variorum Shakespeare presents complete textual and critical histories of each line of the play, along with extensive essays on criticism, sources, stage history, and more.The New Variorum Editions are valuable resources for an international audience of scholars, students, directors, actors, and general readers. Overseen by three general editors and an MLA committee, the production of each edition is conducted by a team of scholars and researchers working over a number of years.This edition contains a text of the play, textual variants from all subsequent editions of the play, and commentary notes. Includes discussion of important early editions, date of composition, sources, language and style, structure, influences, analogues, criticism, themes, characters, stage productions, film adaptations, operatic adaptations, and music for the play.Trade ReviewThis volume is not only beautifully readable but an irresistible page-turner." - Laurie Maguire, TLS, April 2022

    1 in stock

    £261.00

  • The Two Gentlemen of Verona in Plain and Simple

    Golgotha Press, Inc. The Two Gentlemen of Verona in Plain and Simple

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £8.99

  • Aristophanes: Four Plays: Clouds, Birds,

    WW Norton & Co Aristophanes: Four Plays: Clouds, Birds,

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAristophanes’s satirical masterpieces, immensely popular with the Athenian public, were frequently crude, even obscene. His plays revealed to his contemporaries, and now teach us today, that when those in power act obscenely, patriotic obscenity is a fitting response. Until now English translations have failed to capture Aristophanes’s poetic genius. Aaron Poochigian, the first poet-classicist to tackle these plays in a generation, offers “effortlessly readable and genuinely theatrical” (Simon Armitage) versions of four of Aristophanes’s most entertaining, provocative and lyrically ingenious comedies, finally giving twenty-first-century readers a sense of the subversive pleasure audiences felt when these works were first performed on the Athenian stage.Trade Review"Aristophanes was a funny, often obscene, social commentator, and he was also a brilliantly fluent, wide-ranging poet, whose lyric rhythms were recited and sung to music, with dancing. It’s very rare for modern translators to convey his poetic virtuosity or make any attempt to bring his meters to life. But Aaron Poochigan has achieved this feat, crafting polymetric translations that convey the whole range of Aristophanes’s larger-than-life characters and provocative, alternative reality scenarios. This new Aristophanes is zany, sharp, inventive, vivacious, and surprisingly relevant for our times." -- Emily Wilson, translator of Homer’s Odyssey"Poochigian has reanimated this quartet of Greek dramas with an approach that conveys all the comic energies, political urgencies, and philosophical concerns of the original plays. Alive and alert to the evolutions and mutations of contemporary language but tuned to the pitch and rhythms of ancient literature, these energetic and adroit twenty-first century translations are both effortlessly readable and genuinely theatrical—as lively on the page as they will be on any stage." -- Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom"Luckily for us, Aaron Poochigian has re-animated Aristophanes, in glittering translations of four of his most 21st-century-appropriate plays. It will be interesting to see whether directors bring these versions to life." -- Willard Spiegelman - The Wall Street Journal

    1 in stock

    £28.80

  • John Gabriel Borkman

    Nick Hern Books John Gabriel Borkman

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisJohn Gabriel Borkman, once an illustrious entrepreneur, has been brought low by a prison sentence for fraud. As he paces alone in an upstairs room, bankrupt and disgraced, he is obsessed by dreams of his comeback. Downstairs, his estranged wife plots the restoration of the family name. When her sister arrives unannounced, she triggers a desperate showdown with the past. Henrik Ibsen's most contemporary play and his penultimate, John Gabriel Borkman is gripping, penetrating and savagely funny. This version by Lucinda Coxon premiered at the Bridge Theatre, London, in September 2022, directed by Nicholas Hytner, with a cast led by Clare Higgins, Simon Russell Beale and Lia Williams.Trade Review'A staggering, dark portrayal of family dynamics that have been warped by misplaced values and the denial of love... full of difficult emotions and fierce feeling' * WhatsOnStage *'Weird, funny, bleak... a blackly humorous piquancy... [the play] has a whipsmart humour and wonderful momentum to it: a depiction of frozen lives finally experiencing one last calamitous thaw before the end of their days' * Time Out *'Riveting... a penetrating character study of highly flammable, alpha masculinity' * Guardian *'One of Henrik Ibsen's richest plays, full of penetrating sounds and images – and of writing that vaults... a remarkable study of a charismatic personality' * Observer *'Astonishing... the most dramatic passion we've seen on stage all year... Never a false note... shockingly funny... devastating one-liners... holds you riveted' * TheatreCat *

    1 in stock

    £10.79

  • Othello

    Nick Hern Books Othello

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisFrantic Assembly's electrifying take on Shakespeare's tragedy of paranoia, sex and murder, firmly rooted in a volatile twenty-first century. In a world of broken glass and shattered promises, of poisonous manipulation and explosive violence, Othello's passionate affair with Desdemona becomes the catalyst for jealousy, betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents. As relevant today as it ever was, Othello exposes the tension, fear and paranoia buried beneath the veneer of our relationships and how easily that can be maliciously exploited. Frantic Assembly's touring production was first performed in 2008, with revivals in 2014 and 2022. This edition of Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett's muscular, radically adapted text also features articles and interviews about the production and Frantic Assembly's revolutionary work.Trade Review'Frantic Assembly breathe new life into Shakespeare's tale... in Scott Graham's pulse-racing production' * Time Out *'A fierce reimagining of Shakespeare's tragedy' * The Times *'Pulsating... hurls Othello well and truly into our times' * Independent *'There is nothing polite about Frantic Assembly's Othello. No prettified classic, it is vulgar, tough and fractious... brings out the primal passions in Shakespeare's play... it is urgent, abrasive and thrilling' * Guardian *'Exhilarating... explodes into life... The visual storytelling is sharp and contemporary without ever losing the essence of the story itself... an adaptation done right... an excellent introduction to Shakespeare' * Reviews Hub *

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • Gigi  Dar

    Nick Hern Books Gigi Dar

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Shakespeare's Imaginary Constitution: Late Elizabethan Politics and the Theatre of Law

    1 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    1 in stock

    £90.25

  • Dwy Ddrama Ha Ha! - 5

    Gwasg Carreg Gwalch Dwy Ddrama Ha Ha! - 5

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTwo comedies for young actors (and the young at heart): ''Rhiwbob'' by Peter Hughes Griffiths and ''Lle bo camp bydd rhemp'' by Meinir and Gwion Lynch.

    1 in stock

    £4.25

  • As You Like it

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC As You Like it

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn a period during which a play previously staged very traditionally was represented in a variety of original ways, Robert Smallwood looks at what we could call the 'Seven Ages of As You Like It' by considering just what directors, designers and actors did differently to make their vision original. How are the environments of the court and the Forest of Arden presented; bleak and chilling or welcoming and celebratory? What does each actress bring to the crucial role of Rosalind that will help show the journey from her relationship with Celia to that with Orlando? How are the anti-romantic Touchstone and Jaques portrayed? How successfully is Hymen, the god of marriage, brought to the stage? This engaging volume celebrates the rich performance history of an always popular play. In a period during which a play previously staged very traditionally was represented in a variety of original ways, Robert Smallwood looks at what we could call the 'Seven Ages of As You Like It' by considering just what directors, designers and actors did differently to make their vision original. How are the environments of the court and the Forest of Arden presented; bleak and chilling or welcoming and celebratory? What does each actress bring to the crucial role of Rosalind that will help show the journey from her relationship with Celia to that with Orlando? How are the anti-romantic Touchstone and Jaques portrayed? How successfully is Hymen, the god of marriage, brought to the stage? This engaging volume celebrates the rich performance history of an always popular play.

    1 in stock

    £30.39

  • Classic Plays by Women: From 1600 - 2000

    Aurora Metro Publications Classic Plays by Women: From 1600 - 2000

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisStaged in theatres by successive generations and proving relevant to contemporary audiences, the plays demonstrate the wit, theatrical skill and innovation of their creators in exploring timeless topics from marriage, morality and money to class conflict, rage and sexual desire. An essential resource for students, playwrights, colleges, universities and libraries, this collection also provides theatres with the opportunity to programme a range of theatrical classics by women. Plays from: 'Paphnutius' by Hroswitha (extract);'The Tragedy of Mariam' by Elizabeth Cary (extract); 'The Rover' by Aphra Behn; 'A Bold Stroke For A Wife' by Susanna Centlivre; 'De Montfort' by Joanna Baillie; 'Rutherford and Son' by Githa Sowerby; 'The Chalk Garden' by Enid Bagnold; 'Top Girls' by Caryl Churchill (extract); 'Stones in his Pockets' by Marie Jones.Table of ContentsIntroduction Susan Croft Paphnutius (circa 960) extract Hrotswitha The Tragedy of Mariam (1613) extract Elizabeth Cary The Rover (1677) Aphra Behn A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1718) Susanna Centlivre De Monfort (1800) Joanna Baillie Rutherford and Son (1912) Githa Sowerby The Chalk Garden (1955) Enid Bagnold Top Girls (1982) extract Caryl Churchill Stones in his Pockets (1996) Marie Jones Bibliography

    1 in stock

    £16.14

  • Hour-Long Shakespeare Volume III (A Midsummer

    John Catt Educational Ltd Hour-Long Shakespeare Volume III (A Midsummer

    Book SynopsisAbridged specifically for all those interested in Shakespeare's plays, especially teachers and students of English and drama, these one-hour performance scripts maintain the arcs of Shakespeare's plots without compromising the integrity of his original language. What remains are manageable performance texts and the essential elements needed for an introduction to three of Shakespeare's most popular plays.Trade Review'Matthew Jenkinson's careful alterations of some of Shakespeare's most important history plays may give us less than 50% of each play's lines, but they convey far more than that percentage of each play's theatrical power. Moreover, they belong 100% to the highest traditions of both teaching and performing Shakespeare's plays.'; Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Professor of Shakespeare Studies, University of Birmingham

    £13.27

  • Shakespeare Tales: Tragedies

    Howgill House Books Shakespeare Tales: Tragedies

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £7.46

  • Shakespeare Tales: Roman Tales

    Howgill House Books Shakespeare Tales: Roman Tales

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £7.46

  • Chiltern Publishing King Lear

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisChiltern Publishing creates the most beautiful editions of the World's finest literature. Your favourite classic titles in a way you have never seen them before; the tactile embossed layers, fine details and beautiful colours of these remarkable covers make these titles feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf.

    2 in stock

    £18.75

  • La Farce de Maître Pathelin: une pièce de théâtre

    1 in stock

    £11.50

  • Das lateinische Drama der Frühen Neuzeit

    de Gruyter Das lateinische Drama der Frühen Neuzeit

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £136.80

  • The Tragedy Of King Richard III: With The Landing

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • The Winter's Tale (1610, 1623): Broadview

    Broadview Press Ltd The Winter's Tale (1610, 1623): Broadview

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisNeither comedy nor tragedy, The Winter’s Tale contains elements of each genre, and defies easy classification. It experiments, like many of Shakespeare’s late plays, with different styles and tones, and draws on a wide range of sources and inspirations. Full of mysteries and miracles, grief and dark humour, this strange play has fascinated critics and theatregoers for centuries.Theatrical and cinematic productions have tried to capture the range of interpretations and staging possibilities presented by The Winter’s Tale, and the introduction to this edition explores the play’s long histories in performance and in criticism. Illustrations and extended notes interleaved throughout the text discuss the echoes of religious, scientific, and mythological texts found in the play.Trade Review“This superb new edition of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is another excellent entry in the relatively new Broadview/Internet Shakespeare Editions series. Its virtues are many: a beautifully organized introduction; very fine glosses with extremely useful enlarged notes and illustrations; excellent sources; very useful analogues; and a superb bibliography. Hardin Aasand’s is now, for me, the teaching edition; I can’t wait to own it and teach from it.” — Peter Platt, Barnard CollegeTable of ContentsFOREWARDACKNOWLEDGEMENTSINTRODUCTIONSHAKESPEARE’S LIFESHAKESPEARE’S THEATERWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A BRIEF CHRONOLOGYA NOTE ON THE TEXTABBREVIATIONSTHE WINTER’S TALEAPPENDIX A: SOURCES Robert Greene, Pandosto (1588) From Ovid, Metamorphoses Pygmalion Ceres and Proserpina Callisto APPENDIX B: ANALOGS From James VI of Scotland, Basilikon Doron (1599) From Robert Greene, The Second and Last Part of Coney-Catching and the Third and Last Part of Coney-Catching (1592) From God’s Handi-Work in Wonders (1615) WORKS CITED AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

    10 in stock

    £16.10

  • The Roaring Girl

    Broadview Press Ltd The Roaring Girl

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe titular “Roaring Girl” of Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker’s comedy is Moll Cutpurse, a fictionalized version of Mary Frith, who attained legendary status in London by flouting gendered dress conventions, illegally performing onstage, and engaging in all manner of transgressive behavior from smoking and swearing to stealing. In the course of The Roaring Girl’s lively and complex plot of seduction and clever ruses, Moll shares her views on gender and sexuality, defends her honor in a duel, and demonstrates her knowledge of London’s criminal underworld. This edition of the play offers an informative introduction, thorough annotation, and a substantial selection of contextual materials from the period.Trade Review“With its uncompromising cross-dressed heroine, and its cheerful disregard for conventional sexual mores, The Roaring Girl offers a winning specimen of early modern London’s screwball comedy. Kelly Stage’s terrific edition brings the play’s rollicking schemes into sharp focus through clear accounts of its colorful language and historical references, juxtaposed with contemporary writings on cross-dressing, criminals, tobacco, and the real Moll Frith. This is a welcome resource for first-time readers and scholars alike.” — Tanya Pollard, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York“Providing a nuanced and contextually sensitive introduction, Kelly Stage’s excellent edition of The Roaring Girl will prove immensely valuable to undergraduate and graduate students alike. Especially useful is Stage’s careful discussion of clothing transgression in relation to the complex gender and socioeconomic dynamics that shaped the play’s composition and staging. The text includes extensive and detailed explanatory notes that will help students and newcomers unpackage what can be a challenging play. The edition concludes with an array of contemporary historical documents that offer contextual background on issues relating to cross-dressing, theater life, criminality, and material culture.” — Matthew Kendrick, William Paterson University Table of Contents Introduction The Roaring Girl or Moll Cutpurse In Context A. On Mary Frith’s Life 1. from the Consistory Court of London Correction Book, 27 January 1611/12 2. The Last Will and Testament of Mary Markham, Alias Mary Frith (1659) B. On Theater, Gender, and Cross-Dressing 1. from Stephen Gosson, Plays Confuted in Five Actions, Proving that they are not to be suffered in a Christian Commonweal (1582) 2. from anonymous, The Life of Long Meg of Westminster, containing the mad merry pranks she played in her lifetime, not only in performing sundry quarrels with diverse ruffians about London: but also how valiantly she behaved herself in wars of Boulogne (1620, revised 1635) 3. from anonymous, Hic Mulier: or, The Man-Woman: Being a Medicine to Cure the Coltish Disease of the Staggers in the Masculine-Feminines of our Time (1620) 4. anonymous, Haec-Vir: or, The Womanish-Man (1620) C. On Criminals 1. from Thomas Harman, A Caveat for Common Cursitors, Vulgarly Called Vagabonds (1566, revised 1567/68) 2. from Thomas Dekker, The Bellman of London Bringing to Light the Most Notorious Villainies That Are Now Practised in the Kingdom (1608) D. On Tobacco 1. from anonymous, “A Merry Progress to London to see Fashions, by a young Country Gallant, that had more Money than Wit” (1615) 2. from King James I, A Counterblast to Tobacco (1604) Further Reading

    1 in stock

    £15.95

  • Romeo and Juliet (No Fear Shakespeare)

    Spark Romeo and Juliet (No Fear Shakespeare)

    7 in stock

    Book SynopsisNo Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Romeo and Juliet on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary. The famous tale of star-crossed lovers.

    7 in stock

    £7.59

  • The History of King Lear The Oxford Shakespeare

    Oxford University Press The History of King Lear The Oxford Shakespeare

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis new edition is based on the quarto, the version closest to the original manuscript. The introduction illminates the plays' origins and practicalities of composition, its reception and influence. Detailed notes pay especial attention to language and staging, and the volume includes King Lear's first derivative, a contemporary ballad, and guides to appreciation of the play and its multiple offshoots.Trade Review'This is a supremely student-friendly edition that will have far-reaching implications. Teachers throughout the English-speaking world will soon begin adopting Wells's edition for their courses.' * Eric Rasmussen, Shakespeare Survey *

    3 in stock

    £12.05

  • The Comedy of Errors

    E-Kitap Projesi & Cheapest Books The Comedy of Errors

    15 in stock

    15 in stock

    £18.44

  • The Merry Wives of Windsor

    Oxford University Press The Merry Wives of Windsor

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis''Here will be an old abusing of God''s patience and the King''s English.''The Merry Wives of Windsor is the only Shakespeare play named entirely after female characters and his only comedy set in England. These features underscore some of its most immediately appealing qualities -- its contemporary realism; its depiction of everyday life; its interest in status and gender; and the language and physicality of its comedy. This edition''s introduction focuses on these elements of Merry Wives, setting out their historical contexts but also thinking about what they offer audiences and readers today. It addresses the place of the play within Shakespeare''s career and canon and the enduringly popular figure of Falstaff, before thinking about its generic peculiarities as a mixture of city comedy and domestic comedy. The edition gives readers a rich breadth of historical context and real-life examples through which to understand and appreciate the text. It also addresses Merry Wives''s popular

    1 in stock

    £6.99

  • Shakespeare and Feminist Theory

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Shakespeare and Feminist Theory

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisMarianne Novy is a Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, USA and has been teaching Shakespeare from a feminist perspective there since 1971.Trade ReviewUsing close reading, social context, and some intriguing nuggets of performance history, Novy's book is as illuminating as it is readable. It is also rendered all the more urgent by her inclusion of current gender issues. * Times Literary Supplement *Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. Likeness and Difference 3. Desire 4. Marriage 5. Motherhood 6. Language 7. Between Women 8. Work Bibliography Index

    1 in stock

    £25.99

  • Cambridge University Press The Tempest Set of 2 Audio CDs

    2 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    2 in stock

    £28.50

  • Taylor & Francis Shakespeares Feminine Endings Disfiguring Death in the Tragedies Feminist Readings of Shakespeare

    15 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    15 in stock

    £37.99

  • Macbeth

    Vintage Publishing Macbeth

    Out of stock

    Book Synopsis*JO NESBO HAS SOLD OVER 50 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE**No 1 Sunday Times bestseller*''Immensely enjoyable and gloriously dark'' Daily ExpressHe''s the best cop they''ve got. When a drug bust turns into a bloodbath it''s up to Inspector Macbeth and his team to clean up the mess. He''s also an ex-drug addict with a troubled past. He''s rewarded for his success. Power. Money. Respect. They''re all within reach. But a man like him won''t get to the top.Plagued by hallucinations and paranoia, Macbeth starts to unravel. He''s convinced he won''t get what is rightfully his. Unless he kills for it. ''A deliciously oppressive page-turner'' GuardianWatch out for The Jealousy Man, the new Jo Nesbo book, out nowTrade ReviewMajestically satisfying...a deliciously oppressive page-turner -- Steven Poole * Guardian *Immensely enjoyable and gloriously dark... He has accomplished that toughest of literary feats: putting his own unmistakable mark on one of Shakespeare's most celebrated plays -- Matt Gibson * Daily Express *Inventive and deeply satisfying... a dark but ultimately hopeful Macbeth, one suited to our own troubled times -- James Shapiro * New York Times Book Review *Nesbo makes excellent use of all the atmosphere of his genre, and the stakes at play are every bit as convincing as those in the original... This is Nesbo doing what he's good at -- Lucy Scholes * Independent *Macbeth as a SWAT team leader. His wife as a former prostitute. The three witches as drug dealers. It's Shakespeare's darkest tale -- reimagined by the king of Nordic noir -- Graeme Thomson * Mail on Sunday *

    Out of stock

    £8.99

  • Sarpedon A Play by Gregory Corso

    Richard Schober D/B/A Tough Poets Press Sarpedon A Play by Gregory Corso

    15 in stock

    15 in stock

    £7.63

  • Julius Caesar (1599)

    Broadview Press Ltd Julius Caesar (1599)

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisJulius Caesar is a key link between Shakespeare’s histories and his tragedies. Unlike the Caesar drawn by Plutarch in a source text, Shakespeare’s Caesar is surprisingly modern: vulnerable and imperfect, a powerful man who does not always know himself. The open-ended structure of the play insists that revealing events will continue after the play ends, making the significance of the history we have just witnessed impossible to determine in the play itself.John D. Cox’s introduction discusses issues of genre, characterization, and rhetoric, while also providing a detailed history of criticism of the play. Appendices provide excerpts from important related works by Lucretius, Plutarch, and Montaigne.A collaboration between Broadview Press and the Internet Shakespeare Editions project at the University of Victoria, the editions developed for this series have been comprehensively annotated and draw on the authoritative texts newly edited for the ISE. This innovative series allows readers to access extensive and reliable online resources linked to the print edition.Trade Review“John Cox’s edition of Julius Caesar is very user-friendly—it has copious and concise explanatory notes, generous selections from Shakespeare’s sources, and a critical introduction that does a remarkable job of highlighting the main lines of interpreting the play over the centuries.” — Paul A. Cantor, Clifton Waller Barrett Professor of English, University of VirginiaTable of ContentsFOREWORDACKNOWLEDGEMENTSINTRODUCTIONSHAKESPEARE’S LIFESHAKESPEARE’S THEATREWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND JULIUS CAESAR:A BRIEF CHRONOLOGYA NOTE ON THE TEXTSCHARACTERS IN THE PLAYJULIUS CAESARAPPENDIX A: PLUTARCH’S LIVES From Life of Caesar From Life of Brutus From Life of Marcus Antonius APPENDIX B: MONTAIGNE ON STOICISM AND EPICUREANISM

    3 in stock

    £16.10

  • Philoctetes

    Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Philoctetes

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisFirst published in Peter Meineck and Paul Woodruff's Sophocles: Four Tragedies, this riveting translation by Peter Meineck of Sophocles' Philoctetes features a new Introduction by Paul Woodruff. "Peter Meineck has given us a superbly vivid rendering of the play, informed throughout by his practical experience in the theater. His is a Philoctetes that is supremely alive, from start to finish. . . . [I]deal for classroom use . . . accompanied by a new and thoughtful introduction from philosopher and classicist Paul Woodruff. Woodruff anchors the play in the complex web of fears and anxieties of 409 BCE, as both Sophocles' life and Athens' imperial heyday drew to a close. . . . [A]n exceptionally fine work of translation and scholarship that will go far toward demolishing dismissals of the play as inaccessible or unengaging for the modern reader. Sophocles, Meineck and Woodruff eloquently remind us, speaks to every age, not least our own."—Thomas R. Keith, Loyola University Chicago in CJ-OnlineTrade Review"An excellent translation of this always intriguing play: clear, simple, up-to-date English. . . . Clearly designed for stage performance as well as reading. Woodruff gives a good account of why the Athenian audience would have been on the edge of their seats. This translation would be appropriate for anyone doing a Classics or drama course, with or without the language. No prior knowledge of the mythological background is assumed; everything one needs to know is explained in the introduction and notes." —Colin McDonald, Journal of Classics Teaching"This translation makes a strong case for the use of Philoctetes both in the classroom and in performance. . . . A lively and energetic play with quick and exciting language. . . . The struggle of young Neoptolemus to find his way within the heroic world comes across as timely and relevant. The otherworldliness of Philoctetes' pain is perfectly rendered. . . . Paul Woodruff's Introduction is excellent. I have read this play many times and know the myth well, yet I still found myself thoroughly captivated by Woodruff’s narrative. . . . The bibliography would be a tremendous resource for an undergraduate student. All in all, this is among the best in Hackett's excellent and expanding series of Greek tragedy in translation. The combination of Meineck's skillful translation with an eye to performance and Woodruff’s enthusiastic and intelligent introduction makes this particular volume a great pleasure." —Kathryn Mattison, McMaster University, in Mouseion

    4 in stock

    £10.44

  • Tales from Shakespeare

    Flying Chipmunk Publishing Tales from Shakespeare

    15 in stock

    15 in stock

    £20.54

  • Philoktetes

    Focus Publishing/R Pullins & Co Philoktetes

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis is an English translation of Sophocles' tragedy of Philoctetes, an archer who had been abandoned on Lemnos by the rest of the Greek fleet while on the way to Troy. Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays to provide access to understanding Greek culture.

    2 in stock

    £12.34

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