Literary studies: plays and playwrights Books

Book SynopsisFrom one of the great modern writers, the acclaimed lectures in which he draws on a lifetime of experience to take the measure of Shakespeare''s plays and sonnets W. H. Auden, poet and critic, will conduct a course on Shakespeare at the New School for Social Research beginning Wednesday. Mr. Auden . . . proposes to read all Shakespeare''s plays in chronological order. So the New York Times reported on September 27, 1946, giving notice of a rare opportunity to hear one of the century''s great poets discuss at length one of the greatest writers of all time. Reconstructed by Arthur Kirsch, these lectures offer remarkable insights into Shakespeare''s plays and sonnets while also adding immeasurably to our understanding of Auden.Trade Review"Auden's lectures on Shakespeare are a marvelous blend of steady, patient intelligence and stunning insight—spirited, free-thinking, resourceful, unintimidated, liberated from the air of treacly piety, and very, very intelligent."—Stephen Greenblatt"A remarkable achievement."—Frank Kermode, London Review of Books"The finest [book] by any English poet on the subject since (and I am not forgetting Coleridge) Dr. Johnson."—Lachlan MacKinnon, Daily Telegraph"In every way, Kirsch has produced a model of useful scholarship. . . . To know Auden's work well is to acquire a liberal education. These lectures on Shakespeare are a good place to start."—Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World"For anyone who has ever resolved in vain to sit down and read right through Shakespeare, this at last is the volume to help fulfil that resolution. . . . [M]asterly."—Christopher Murray, Irish Times

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Book SynopsisNewsroom, political platform, local hot spot, confession box, preacher-pulpit and football stadium. For generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling.Barber Shop Chronicles, which was partly inspired by verbatim recordings, is a heart-warming, hilarious and insightful play that leaps from a barber shop in Peckham to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra over the course of a single day.It was first produced by the National Theatre, Fuel and Leeds Playhouse in 2017 and is here publishedas a Methuen Drama Student Edition with commentary and notes by Oladipo Agboluaje.Trade ReviewIsn’t this what all playwrights would wish for? To come across in their daily lives a dramatic arena. To find it both immediate and far-reaching. To put on stage lives that have not been seen there before ... [The] chronicles are set in Lagos, Johannesburg, Harare, Accra, Kampala – and south London. They include confessionals, politics, feuding, tales of men away from their homes, men cut off from fathers, men in search of companionship. Common threads – a plot about father and son, a joke about a fly in a drink, a big Barcelona-Chelsea match – weave these episodes together. But it is the stretch of the talk and material that is remarkable: anecdotal and argumentative. -- Susannah Clapp * Observer *Throbs with energy and heat. Full of sadness and great joy. * Daily Telegraph *Rich and exhilarating. A fascinating peek into the barber shop. * The Stage *Life-affirming * Independent *Table of ContentsCHRONOLOGY COMMENTARY PLAYWRIGHT CONTEXT Black British drama (including work of practitioners such as Roy Williams, debbie tucker green and Mojisola Adebayo) THEMES Masculinity (including sport and sexuality) and how it shapes characters and subverts universal and specifically black and African notions of masculinity GENRE Verbatim theatre (use of transcripts to create a work of fiction); comparing to other verbatim plays such as London Road and The Permanent Way SETTING Barbershop as a 'safe space' for black men Diasporic movements - how the play's transnational locations construct a 'black' identity PLAY TEXT FURTHER READING

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWonderfully inspiring. A delightful spell in the company of one of our greatest and most thoughtful actresses * Daily Mail, Books of the Year *A magical love letter to Shakespeare * Kenneth Branagh *A wonderful mixture of appreciation and anecdote * Financial Times, Books of the Year *It’s a mark of Dench’s impish genius and O’Hea’s deftness that it genuinely feels like you’re sitting at her kitchen table with her. It’s companionable and compelling – if you love Judi Dench or Shakespeare (and most of us do), look no further * Guardian *Gorgeous flows of recollection * Literary Review *An utterly delightful book…there can be few higher pleasures in civilised life than hearing Judi Dench recite the poetry of Shakespeare. What emerges is a wealth of unpretentious horse sense – Shakespeare from a great actor’s perspective – that repeatedly strikes to the heart of the matter with a sharp instinctive intelligence that puts fancy-pants literary critics to shame * Telegraph *This is a gloriously entertaining tour through the canon in the company of perhaps the most experienced living Shakespearean actor; reading it feels like a chat with an old friend. * Observer *The book is pure enchantment. It swirls and dances with brilliance and mischief, so forget traditional Shakespearean criticism and analysis. Sack the Eng. Lit. professors. As never before, this book brings the subject to wild, authentic life. * Daily Mail *A wonderful ode to the bard * I *Riveting, revealing and witty * Gazette and Herald *

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Book SynopsisA practical approach to breaking through the barriers of restraint and incomprehension when faced with Shakespeare. Taking many of the techniques explored in her international bestseller Freeing The Natural Voice, in this companion volume Kristin Linklater shows how to apply them to the exploration and speaking of Shakespeare’s language. Beginning with exercises designed to break long-held habits and allow an emotional rather than intellectual relationship to Elizabethan language, she analyses Shakespeare's strategies for creating character, story and meaning through figures of speech, iambic pentameter, rhyme and the alternation of verse and prose. Using copious examples from the plays, Linklater offers her readers the tools to increase understanding and make Shakespeare's words their own.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2020 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate TheatreI looked at her, wanting her to laugh. Wanting her to share in the joke. But she didn't. She just stared. I knew then, in that moment that she had taken it literally...Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Richard Gadd has a chilling story to tell about obsession, delusion and the terrifying ramifications of a fleeting mistake.This powerful and engaging monologue play portrays a man brought to the edge by the actions of a chance encounter which takes a toll on all aspects of his life. In doing so it asks important questions about victims, the justice system and how one decision has the ability to change your life.Trade ReviewFrankly magnificent * Fest *A true one off * Daily Telegraph *A mercurial talent * Independent *

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Book SynopsisFor twenty-six years after his first mention of the character, J.M. Barrie worked on the story of Peter Pan as he appeared through different incarnations: the three-act play Peter Pan, or the Boy who Wouldn’t Grow Up (1904), the illustrated novella Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), the Epilogue to the play “An After Thought” (1908), the full-length novel Peter and Wendy (1911), two short stories, and finally a longer version of the original play. This edition of Peter Pan includes not only the novel and revised play as they were first published, but also an earlier novella and the previously unpublished original play.Appendices include materials from Barrie’s personal writings and contemporary reviews and illustrations.Trade Review“A unique achievement—the bringing together of Barrie’s various and scattered Peter Pan texts within a single volume. As such it is an absolute gift to Peter Pan devotees, containing as it does much material that is otherwise unavailable to the general reader. An added bonus is the inclusion of numerous contemporary reviews for both the play of 1904 and the later novelization of 1911.” — Andrew Birkin, author of J.M. Barrie and The Lost Boys“This edition of Peter Pan is an exemplary work of scholarship, giving us not only the 1911 edition of the full novelization of this much edited and reproduced story, but also the 1904 slim pantomime version never before published, “An Afterthought” (1908), and the 1906 novella Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. The reader has in this edition a thorough exposure to this complicated text. Alton has chosen the Appendices carefully and wisely. Her Introduction meticulously covers the complicated history of the writing, editing, performing, and publishing of this famous story. And she provides us with a review of the major critical responses to the story. This edition of Peter Pan is simply the best we have.” — Roderick McGillis, The University of CalgaryTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionJ.M. Barrie: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextPrimary Text:Peter and WendyFormative Texts:Peter Pan, or the Boy who Wouldn’t Grow Up“An After-Thought”Peter Pan in Kensington GardensAppendix A: Contemporary Reviews (Plays) Peter Pan, or the Boy who Wouldn’t Grow Up The New York Times (28 December 1904) The Times (28 December 1904) The Saturday Review (7 January 1905) The New York Times (12 November 1905) The New York Times (10 June 1906) “An After-Thought” The New York Times (15 March 1908) Appendix B: Contemporary Reviews (Books) Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens The New York Times (4 December 1910) The New York Times (4 December 1910) Peter and Wendy The New York Times (22 October 1911) The Literary Digest (19 November 1911) Appendix C: Peter Pan Material Barrie’s Manuscript Page of “Fairy” (1903) “Davy Jones’ Locker” (1904) Frank Gillette’s Costume Designs for 1905 London Production of Peter Pan, or the Boy who Wouldn’t Grow Up (1905) Maude Adams from the 1905 New York Production of Peter Pan, or the Boy who Wouldn’t Grow Up (1905) Pauline Chase from the 1907 Playbill Touring Production Poster of Peter Pan, or the Boy whoWouldn’t Grow Up (1907) Appendix D: Related Texts by J.M. Barrie Preface to The Coral Island (1913) “Captain Hook at Eton” (1927) “To the Five” (1928) Appendix E: Images and Illustrations “The Child’s Map of Kensington Gardens.” Illustration by Henry Justice Ford from The Little White Bird (1902) “Peter Pan’s Map of Kensington Gardens.” Illustration by Arthur Rackham from Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906) J.M. Barrie’s Key to Kensington Gardens (1903) “We Feel Dancey.” Illustration by Arthur Rackham from Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906) “Title Page.” Illustration by Francis Donkin Bedford from first edition of Peter and Wendy (1911) “Peter Flew In.” Illustration by Francis Donkin Bedford from first edition of Peter and Wendy (1911) “Peter Pan Playing Pipes” and “Wendy on Rock.” Illustrations by Mabel Lucie Attwell from Peter Pan and Wendy (1921) Diarmuid Byron-O’Connor’s Sculpture of Peter Pan at GOSH (2000) Bibliography and Works Cited

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Book SynopsisWhen Falstaff calls upon the sky to rain potatoes in The Merry Wives of Windsor, he is highlighting the late sixteenth-century belief that the exotic vegetable, recently introduced to England from the Americas, was an aphrodisiac. In Romeo and Juliet, Lady Capulet calls for quinces to make pies for the marriage feast of her daughter. This fruit was traditionally connected with weddings and fertility, as echoed by John Gerard in his herbal where he also explained that eating quinces would ‘bring forth wise children, and of good understanding’. Taking fifty quotations centring on flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables, Margaret Willes gives these botanical references their social context to provide an intriguing and original focus on daily life in Tudor and Jacobean England, looking in particular at medicine, cookery, gardening and folklore traditions. Exquisitely illustrated with unique hand-painted engravings from the Bodleian Library’s copy of John Gerard’s herbal of 1597, this book marries the beauty of Shakespeare’s lines with charming contemporary renderings of the plants he described so vividly.Trade Review‘An engaging addition to Shakespeare studies … this book is a treasure, compact, readable and beautifully presented.’ * Irish Examiner *

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Book Synopsis McDowall masterfully plants ideas that grow until they explode into extraordinary shapes. Filthy humour breaks down into a cracked algorithm of letters and loss a play that will gnaw away at you. It's sci-fi and theatre at its best. The StageBillions of miles from home, the lone research base on Pluto has lost contact with Earth. Unable to leave or send for help, the skeleton crew sit waiting.Waiting.Waiting long enough for time to start eating away at them.To lose all sense of it.To start seeing things in the dark outside.X premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2016. This new Modern Classics edition features an introduction by Dr Cristina Delgado-García.Trade ReviewAlistair McDowall is, I think, the most exciting playwright to emerge out of English theatre in the past five years...He makes me want to try harder. He makes me want to be better. * Simon Stephens, UK, Playwright *Alistair McDowall is one of the most highly regarded young playwrights writing today * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisSharp and funny. Gunderson taps into a buoyant spirit ... the touching ''barbaric yawp'' (Whitman''s phrase) of these two deeply engaging kids. The Washington PostHousebound by illness, Caroline hasn't been to school in months. Confined to her room, she has only social media for company. That is until classmate Anthony bursts in uninvited and armed with waffle fries, a scruffy copy of Walt Whitman's poetry and a school project due the next dayCaroline is unimpressed, but an unlikely friendship develops and a seemingly mundane piece of homework starts to reveal the pair's hopes and dreams - as well as a deep and mysterious bond that connects them even further.Finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2014. This new Modern Classics edition features an introduction by Julie Felise Dubiner.Trade ReviewSharp and funny. Gunderson taps into a buoyant spirit...the touching 'barbaric yawp' (Whitman's phrase) of these two deeply engaging kids. * Washington Post *The show is suffused not with the bleakness that you might expect, but with a strong sense of potential and promise. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisFull of analysis and interpretation, historical background, discussions and commentaries, York Notes will help you get right to the heart of the text you’re studying, whether it’s poetry, a play or a novel.Table of Contents Part 1: Introduction Part 2: The Text Part 3: Critical Approaches Part 4: Critical Perspectives Part 5: Background Further Reading Literacy Terms

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Book SynopsisAlan Bennett''s beloved, best-known play, with a beautiful typographic cover. The best moments in reading are when you come across something a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things that you'd thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead.As an unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys pursue sex, sport and a place at university, adolescent anarchy and staffroom rivalry provoke insistent questions about history and education.The History Boys premiered at the National Theatre, London, 2004, winning Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, Olivier and South Bank Awards. On Broadway, it received numerous awards, including six Tonys.

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Book SynopsisThe Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition is part of the landmark New Oxford Shakespeare--an entirely new consideration of all of Shakespeare''s works, edited afresh from all the surviving original versions of his work, and drawing on the latest literary, textual, and theatrical scholarship. In one attractive volume, the Modern Critical Edition gives today''s students and playgoers the very best resources they need to understand and enjoy all Shakespeare''s works. The authoritative text is accompanied by extensive explanatory and performance notes, and innovative introductory materials which lead the reader into exploring questions about interpretation, textual variants, literary criticism, and performance, for themselves.The Modern Critical Edition presents the plays and poetry in the order in which Shakespeare wrote them, so that readers can follow the development of his imagination, his engagement with a rapidly evolving culture and theatre, and his relationship to his literary contemporaries.The New Oxford Shakespeare consists of four interconnected publications: the Modern Critical Edition (with modern spelling), the Critical Reference Edition (with original spelling), a companion volume on Authorship, and an online version integrating all of this material on OUP''s high-powered scholarly editions platform. Together, they provide the perfect resource for the future of Shakespeare studies.Table of ContentsTHE COMPLETE WORKS

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Simon CallowJudgements about the quality of works of art begin in opinion. But for the last two hundred years only the wilfully perverse (and Tolstoy) have denied the validity of the opinion that Shakespeare was a genius.Who was Shakespeare? Why has his writing endured? And what makes it so endlessly adaptable to different times and cultures? Exploring Shakespeare's life, including questions of authorship and autobiography, and charting how his legacy has grown over the centuries, this extraordinary book asks how Shakespeare has come to be such a powerful symbol of genius.Written with lively passion and wit, The Genius of Shakespeare is a fascinating biography of the life - and afterlife - of our greatest poet. Jonathan Bate, one of the world's leading Shakespearean scholars, has shown how the legend of Shakespeare's genius was created and sustained, and how the man himself became a truly global phenomenon.'The best modern book on Shakespeare' Sir Peter HallTrade Review‘The best book about Shakespeare for a generation’ Philip Howard, The Times‘As brilliant an account of the Bard’s iconic universality as you could hope to find’ Michael Billington, Guardian‘Absolutely dazzling – illuminates the whole man and the influence he has in our lives’ Simon Callow, Sunday Express‘Occupies the territory of biography, literary criticism, theatrical and social history, and a journey across its landscape is one of constant delight and illumination’ Sir Richard Eyre, Financial Times, Books of the Year‘The theme of this wonderfully written, diverse book is diversity itself, and the range of the essays serves only to confirm the disparate nature of Shakespeare’s achievement’ Peter Ackroyd, The Times ‘The liveliest and most intelligent general book on Shakespeare I have read for a long time’ John Gross, Sunday Telegraph, Books of the YearAmbitious, exceptionally well informed and immensely engaging . . . Bate writes with unflagging energy, intelligence, with and enthusiasm * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisNo Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Richard III on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.

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Book SynopsisDavid Roberts is Professor of English at Birmingham City University, UK. His recent books include Restoration Plays and Players (2014) and George Farquhar: A Migrant Life Reversed for (Methuen Drama, 2018).Table of ContentsIntroduction Further Reading The Way of the World

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Book SynopsisFederico García Lorca was born in 1898, in Andalusia, Spain. A poet and dramatist, and also a gifted painter and pianist, his early popular ballads earned him the title of 'poet of the gypsies'. In 1930 he turned his attention to theatre, visiting remote villages and playing classic and new works for peasant audiences. In 1936, shortly after the outbreak of Civil War, he was murdered by Nationalist partisans. His body was never found.Trade Review'Lorca is one of the few indisputably great dramatists of the twentieth century' Observer 'Lorca's great poetic play - the first of his ground-breaking folk trilogy of Spanish Life' Lyn Gardner, Guardian, 30.7.09 'Lorca's drama of forbidden passion, family feud and devouring maternal love and grief is succulent with symbolism' Sam Marlowe, The Times, 30.7.09 'Federico Garcia Lorca's Spanish love-and-death masterpiece...mixes up the rough and tumble of Andalucian peasant realism with surrealist images and stiff poetic formalism' Siobhan Murphy, Metro (London), 29.7.09

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Book SynopsisKaren Britland is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Book SynopsisExamines the ways in which Shakespeare used the law for dramatic effect and incorporated the passion for justice into his great tragedies and comedies, and considers the modern legal relevance of his work. This is a study in the field of literature and the law.Trade Review“An analysis that will interest Shakespeare scholars, enrich the working life of practicing lawyers, and help the lay reader understand why he enjoys Shakespeare in the first place.”—Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature“Thorough and lucid.”—Times Literary Supplement“Exhaustive scholarship and searching thought.”—New York Law Journal“Kornstein’s style is always lucid and often witty.”—Renaissance Quarterly“Highly recommended to all literate citizens, a genuine contribution to Shakespearean studies.”—Choice

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Book SynopsisNow in a second edition, Theatre Studies: The Basics is a fully updated guide to the wonderful world of theatre. The practical and theoretical dimensions of theatre â from acting to audience â are woven together throughout to provide an integrated introduction to the study of drama, theatre and performance. Topics covered include: dramatic genres, from tragedy to political documentary theories of performance the history of the theatre in the West acting, directing and scenography With a glossary, chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading throughout, Theatre Studies: the Basics remains the ideal starting point for anyone new to the subject.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Performance Chapter 2: The TextChapter 3: Dramatic Form Chapter 4: Theatre and History Chapter 5: Acting Chapter 6: Directing Chapter 7: Scenography Chapter 8: The audience GlossaryIndexBibliography

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Book SynopsisFeatures witty illustrations and inspirational quotes. This title covers every work, from the comedies of Twelfth Night and As You Like It to the tragedies of Julius Caesar and Hamlet, and lost plays and less well-known works of poetry.

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Book SynopsisMenander, the dominant figure in New Comedy, wrote over 100 plays, of which one complete play, substantial portions of six others, and smaller but interesting fragments have been recovered. The complete play, Dyskolos (The Peevish Fellow), won first prize in Athens in 317 BC.Trade ReviewAn excellent guide to Menander… Arnott has given us fine texts, clear translations, brief and useful introductions, and the help that is needed to make sense [of the] fragments. -- David Konstan * Scholia Reviews *

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Book SynopsisFed up with the dreary round of life in Ballybeg, with his uncommunicative father and the humiliating job in his father''s grocery shop, with his frustrated love for Kathy Doogan who married a richer, more successful young man and with the total absence of prospect and opportunity in his life at home, Gareth O''Donnell has accepted his aunt''s invitation to come to Philadelphia. Now, on the eve of his departure, he is not happy to be leaving Ballybeg.With this play Brian Friel made his reputation and it is now an acknowledged classic of modern drama.

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Book SynopsisDavid Mamet was born in Chicago in 1947. He studied at Goddard College, Vermont - later becoming Art ist in Residence - and at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York. His first and ma ny subsequent plays were first performed by the St Nicholas Theatre company, Chicago, of which he wa s a founding member and Artistic Director. In 1978 he became Associate Artistic Director of the Good man Theatre, Chicago, where American Buffalo had been first staged in 1975, subsequently winning an Obie Award and opening on Broadway in 1977 and at the National Theatre in 1978. His greatest hits, G lengarry Glen Ross and Oleanna followed in 1983 and 1993 respectively.Trade Review'David Mamet has a miraculous ear for the heightened music of American dialect - it makes poetry out of common usage' New York Post; The Cryptogram: 'Here is the finest American playwright of his generation at full stretch. The writing is tight, spare, and as accurate and ruthless as a scalpel' Sunday Times; Oleanna: 'An exploration of male-female conflicts [which] cogently demonstrates that when free thought and dialogue are imperilled, nobody wins' Independent The Old Neighborhood: 'Mamet, ranked with Miller, Albee and Shepard as America's finest living playwrights, distills the raw, rank flavour of people wading down streams of consciousness... A play of riveting disquiet' Evening StandardTable of ContentsCrytogram; Oleanna; the Old Neighborhood

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Book SynopsisA masterpiece of Russian drama, now in a student editionTrade ReviewIt is the element of might-have-been in Chekhov's characters that makes their sense of waste so tragic ... I know of no more moving climax in world drama. * Guardian *Michael Frayn has left his signature upon our contemporary enjoyment of Chekhov...this Uncle Vanya possesses all the scrupulous, subtly idiomatic life we have come to expect from his hand, allied with - and this is the true mark of Frayn - a fine sense of Chekhovian complexity. * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisThis Norton Critical Edition of the world’s first major work of literary criticism is based on James Hutton’s acclaimed translation. The text and explanatory and glossarial notes represent the work of the accomplished Hellenists James Hutton and Michelle

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Book SynopsisJONATHAN BATE Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature, University of Warwick, UK, and the editor of The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works. He has held visiting posts at Harvard, Yale and UCLA and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine's College, Cambridge, and a Governor and Board member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. A prominent critic, award-winning biographer and broadcaster, he is the author of several books on Shakespeare, including The Genius of Shakespeare (Picador), which was praised by Sir Peter Hall, founder of the RSC, as the best modern book on Shakespeare. In June 2006 he was awarded a CBE by HM The Queen 'for services to Higher Education'. ERIC RASMUSSEN is Professor of English at the University of Nevada, USA, and the Textual Editor of The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works. He is co-editor of the Norton Anthology of English Renaissance Drama and has edited volumes in both the

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Book SynopsisA play that chronicles the adventures of the star-crossed lovers Oriole and Student Zhang. It is suitable for students of Chinese cultural and literary traditions.Table of ContentsPREFACE FOREWORD by Cyril Birch TABLE OF CHINESE DYNASTIES DRAMA TIS PERSONJE INTRODUCTION 1. The Status ofWang Shifu's Story cfthe Western Wing in Chinese Literature 2. Author and Authorship 3. The Pedigree of the Materials 4. Exceptions to the Rules 5. An Introduction to the World of The Western Wing TRANSLATION Book the First An Introduction to the Story of Oriole Cui and Student Zhang [Eight Satiric Songs Against The Western Wing] The Story cf the Western Wing Play I, Burning Incense and Worshiping the Moon Play II, Icy Strings Spell Out Grief Book the Second [Untitled] to the Tune "Basheng Ganzhou" The Story of the Western Wing Play III, Feelings Transmitted by Lines of Poetry Play IV, A Clandestine Meeting ofRain and Clouds Play V, A Reunion Ordained by Heaven [Publisher's Advertisement] APPENDICES Appendix I, A Pair cfBattling Quacks Appendix II, A Noontime Dream in the Garden Grove GLOSSARY SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

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Book SynopsisFrom The Two Gentlemen of Verona in the early 1590s to The Two Noble Kinsmen at the end of his career around 1614, Shakespeare wrote at least eighteen plays that can be called ''comedies'': a far higher number than that for any other genre in which he wrote. So what is a Shakespearean comedy? We associate these plays with such themes as mistaken identities, happy marriages, and exuberant cross dressing, but how representative are these of the oeuvre as a whole? In this Very Short Introduction, Bart van Es explores the full range of the playwright''s comic writing, from the neat classical plotting of early works like The Comedy of Errors to the corrupt world of the so-called problem plays, written in the middle years of Shakespeare''s life. Examining Shakespeare''s influences and sources, van Es compares his plays to those of his rivals, and looks at the history of the plays in performance, from the biographies of Shakespeare''s original actors to the plays'' endless reinvention in modern stage productions and in films. Identifying the key qualities that make Shakespearean comedy distinctive, van Es traces the changing nature of Shakespeare''s comic writing over the course of a career that spanned nearly a quarter century of theatrical change.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewAimed at a general readership, the slim volume is nonetheless carefully researched and full of original ideas and connections. * Kevin Curran, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *cover[s] an impressive amount of literary and historical ground, and convey[s] a suitably sizeable serving of Shakespeare knowledge. * Shakespeare Magazine *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; World ; Wit ; Love ; Time ; Character ; Endings ; Further Reading ; Index

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Book SynopsisJONATHAN BATE is Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature, University of Warwick, UK, and the editor of The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works. He has held visiting posts at Harvard, Yale and UCLA and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine's College, Cambridge, and a Governor and Board member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. A prominent critic, award-winning biographer and broadcaster, he is the author of several books on Shakespeare, including The Genius of Shakespeare (Picador), which was praised by Sir Peter Hall, founder of the RSC, as the best modern book on Shakespeare. In June 2006 he was awarded a CBE by HM The Queen 'for services to Higher Education'. ERIC RASMUSSEN is Professor of English at the University of Nevada, USA, and the Textual Editor of The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works. He is co-editor of the Norton Anthology of English Renaissance Drama and has edited volumes in both t

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Book SynopsisIn its towering central characters, vast geographical and historical sweep, and its variety of style and mood, Anthony and Cleopatra is perhaps the most ambitious of Shakespeare''s designs. Yet the degree and nature of its success remain surprisingly contentious, and performances of the play have seldom matched the extravagant expectations of its admirers. Michael Neill''s wide-ranging introduction from a number of angles, including those of gender and race. He examines the sources and discusses the theatrical challenge presented by Shakespeare''s technique, with its extraordinary tensions between rhetoric and action. A full stage history further illustrates its theatrical fortunes; both here and in the extensive commentary this edition illuminates the play''s theatrical dimensions as well as the rich complexity of its poetic language. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable Trade Review'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford Times

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Book SynopsisSparkling with the witty dialogue between Beatrice and Benedicts, Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare''s most enjoyable and theatrically successful comedies.This edition offers a newly edited text and an exceptionally helpful and critically aware introduction. Paying particular attention to analysis of the play''s minor characters, Sheldon P Zitner discusses Shakespeare''s transformation of his source material. He rethinks the attitudes to gender relations that underlie the comedy and determine its view of marriage.Allowing for the play''s openness to reinterpretation by successive generations of readers and peformers, Zitner provides a socially analytic stage history, advancing new views for the actor as much as for the critic. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth o

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Book SynopsisThe Oxford ShakespeareGeneral Editor: Stanley WellsThe Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative texts from leading scholars in editions designed to interpret and illuminate the plays for modern readers- The only single-volume, modern-spelling edition both to offer a reconstruction of the original play and to reproduce the corrupt Quarto text of 1609 exactly as first printed- On-page commentary and notes explains meaning, staging, language, and allusions- Detailed introduction explains the complex textual situation and Shakespeare''s probable collaboration with George Wilkins- Illustrated with production photographs and related art- Full index to introduction and commentary- Durable sewn binding for lasting use''not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare. This is a major achievement of twentieth-century scholarship'' ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volu

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Book SynopsisKing John, a play that offers at least three fine acting roles and was once popular in the theatre, has been neglected in recent years. Its treatment of the death of Arthur, claimant to the throne, and the wit of the Bastard, son of Richard Coeur de Lion, make it particularly worthy of reconsideration. The wide-ranging introduction makes original claims for the play''s relevance to Elizabethan political issues and for its aesthetic importance in Shakespeare''s early career as a dramatist. This edition also offers a comprehensive stage history, a thorough bibliographical study of the Folio (1623) text, and a reconsideration of its disputed relationship with the anonymous Troublesome Reign of King John (1591). A.R. Braunmuller provides new information concerning King John''s early stage history, consideration of legal concepts and practices in the play, and a critical study of its presentation of women and of families.Trade Review`The Oxford Shakespeare is an admirably scholarly edition, immaculately presented, offering close attention to possibilities of staging as well as meaning.' Dr D. Sedge, Exeter University`This edition offers the most substantial & one of the most penetrating discussions of the play to date. A remarkable scholarly achievement.' Dr René J.A. Weis, Department of English, University College, London`a most impressive and illuminating edition' R. N. Alexander, Queen Mary Westfield, London`The major strength of Professor Braunmuller's edition is its introduction. He offers a sane review of such difficult questions as the date of the play, and such controversial ones as its relation to "The Troublesome Reign". The evidence is marshalled in a lucid manner and sensible conclusions drawn ... This is a significant contribution to the (now quickly developing) debate on "King John", and a good demonstration that investigations of Shakespeare as a political dramatist (as opposed to a moral sage) need not be critically reductive.' The Review of English Studies`By its 'conventionally ordered introduction' (p.1), A.R. Braunmuller's Oxford King John signals that it is, indeed what the dustjacket claims, 'the most thorough scholarly edition now available' ... his edition foregrounds technical material important to scholars over more general interests ... Braunmuller's approach to editing is as fair-minded and scholarly as his introduction ... the King John that sets out the issues most fully and fairly, the edition I want in my study, is Braunmuller's 'conventionally ordered', scholarly text.' Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, Yearbook of English Studies, 1992'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford Times

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Book SynopsisPlutarch''s Life of Caesar deals with the best known Roman of them all, Julius Caesar, and his vivid narrative covers most of the major events of the last generation of the Republic, as well as painting an insightful picture of this man who sacrificed everything for power. Pelling''s volume gives a new translation of the Life together with a full introduction and running commentary on the events it describes. Culminating in the crossing of the Rubicon, Caesar''s victory in the Civil War, and finally his assassination on the Ides of March, 44 BC, it goes on to trace the first stages of the new phase of civil war which followed and, in its turn, led to the establishment of the principate. The volume also discusses both the historical and the literary aspects of the Life, relating it both to the broader history of the Republic and to Plutarch''s other works, especially the Life of Alexander with which it forms a pair of Parallel Lives. A separate section of the Introduction also discussTrade Review[an] awe-filling, exemplar of how decades of excellent scholarship have produced a book that will be in use for many decades, and generations, to come. * Brad L. Cook, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *Table of ContentsLIST OF MAPS ; ABBREVIATIONS ; INTRODUCTION ; 1. Plutarch and the Caesars ; 2. TheLife of Caesar ; a) Biography and History ; b) Alexander and Caesar: Pair and Series ; 3. Sources and Methods ; a) Gathering the Material ; b) The Sources ; c) Remoulding the Material ; 4. Plutarch and Roman Politics ; 5. Caesar and Julius Caesar: Plutarch and Shakespeare ; TRANSLATION ; COMMENTARY ; INDEXES ; Names ; General Index

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Book SynopsisFord wrote darkly about sexual and political passion, thwarted ambition, and incest. This selection also shows his ability to portray the poignancy of love as well as write entertaining comedy and create convincing roles for women. Setting Ford's earliest surviving independently-written play, The Lover's Melancholy; alongside his three best-known works, this edition includes an introduction with sections on each play, addressing gender issues, modernrelevance, and staging possibilities. Includes: The Lover's Melancholy; The Broken Heart; `Tis Pity She's a Whore; Perkin Warbeck.Table of ContentsThe Lover's Melancholy ; The Broken Heart ; 'Tis Pity She's a Whore ; Perkin Warbeck

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Book SynopsisMolière (1622-73) combined all the traditional elements of comedy—wit, slapstick, spectacle and satire—with a deep understanding of character to create richly sophisticated dramas which have always delighted audiences. Most are built around dangerously deluded and obsessive heroes such as The Would-Be Gentleman and The Misanthrope who threaten to blight the lives of those around them. Such Foolish Affected Ladies and Those Learned Ladies (both newly translated for this edition) expose the extravagant, fashionable fads and snobbery of the Parisian smart set, while the story of the falsely devout Tartuffe and his devoted disciple Orgon attracted huge controversy for its attack on religious hypocrisy. Finally, The Doctor Despite Himself forms a hilarious chapter in Molière's long-standing vendetta against the medical profession. Like Shakespeare, Molière was a true man of the theatre whose comedies blend sharp insight into human nature with Table of Contents"Such Foolish Affected Ladies"; "Tartuffe"; "The Misanthrope"; "The Doctor Despite Himself"; "The Would-Be Gentleman"; "Those Learned Ladies".

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Book SynopsisThe acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now repackaged in award-winning modern covers to inspire Shakespearians of all ages.

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Book SynopsisHow did Shakespeare sound to the audiences of his day? For the first time this disc offers listeners the chance to hear England's greatest playwright performed by a company of actors using the pronunciation of his time.Trade ReviewAn enthusiastic bunch of actors demonstrate how the Bard s sonnets, songs and various famous scenes from his plays would have sounded to Elizabethan audiences. Pronounce hour as a 16th-century actor would have, that is, to rhyme with whore, and listen to the double entendres multiply. Eng lit aficionados will love it. --Sue Arnold "Guardian "" "An enthusiastic bunch of actors demonstrate how the Bard's sonnets, songs and various famous scenes from his plays would have sounded to Elizabethan audiences. Pronounce 'hour' as a 16th-century actor would have, that is, to rhyme with 'whore, ' and listen to the double entendres multiply. Eng lit aficionados will love it." --Sue Arnold "Guardian "

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Book SynopsisThe Elizabethan age was a tumultuous time, when long-cherished certainties were crumbling and life was exhilaratingly uncertain. Shakespeare''s Restless World uncovers the extraordinary stories behind twenty objects from the period to re-create an age at once distant and yet surprisingly familiar. From knife crime to belief in witches, religious battles to the horizons of the New World, Neil MacGregor brings the past to life in a fresh, unexpected portrait of a dangerous and dynamic era.''Fascinating ... filled with anecdotes and insights, eerie, funny, poignant and grotesque ... another brilliant vindication of MacGregor''s understanding of physical objects to enter deep into our forefathers'' mental and spiritual world'' Christopher Hart, Sunday Times''Enjoyable and intriguing, an absorbing evocation ... he draws us into the minds of the Elizabethan and Jacobean audience. Next time you see one of the plays reading this book will make th

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Book SynopsisAttempts on her Life 17 scenarios for the theatre by Martin Crimp Attempts to describe her? Attempts to destroy her? Or attempts to destroy herself? Is Anne the object of violence? Or its terrifying practitioner? Martin Crimps 17 scenarios for the theatre, shocking and hilarious by turn, are a rollercoaster of late 20th-century obsessions. From pornography and ethnic violence, to terrorism and unprotected sex, its strange array of nameless characters attempt to invent the perfect story to encapsulate our time. Since its premiere 10 years ago, Attempts on her Life has been translated into more than 20 languages. This is its first major UK revival. Attempts on her Life 17 scenarios for the theatre by Martin Crimp

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Book SynopsisThis volume contains Harold Pinter''s first six plays, including The Birthday Party.The Birthday PartyStanley Webber is visited in his boarding house by two strangers, Goldberg and McCann. An innocent-seeming birthday party for Stanley turns into a nightmare.''Mr Pinter''s terrifying blend of pathos and hatred fuses unforgettably into the stuff of art.'' Sunday TimesThe Room and The Dumb WaiterIn these two early one-act plays, Harold Pinter reveals himself as already in full control of his unique ability to make dramatic poetry of the banalities of everyday speech and the precision with which it defines character.''Harold Pinter is the most original writer to have emerged from the new wave of dramatists who gave fresh life to the British theatre in the fifties and early sixties.'' The TimesThe HothouseThe Hothouse was first produced in 1980, though Harold Pinter wrote the play

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Book SynopsisThe world can and will go on without us but I have to think that we have made this world a better place. That we have left it richer, wiser than had we not chosen the way of art.The 1996 Tony Award winner for Best Play.Terrence McNally''s Master Class presents the legendary opera diva, Maria Callas, as she puts aspiring young singers through their paces in a series of master classes. Both moving and entertaining, this theatrical tour de force dramatizes the Callas phenomenon and is an unembarrassed, involving meditation on Callas''s life and the nature of her art. Such subjects are not easily dramatized, certainly not with this brio. (New York Times)After opening on Broadway in 1995 with Zoe Caldwell and Audra McDonald, the play premiered in London in 1997 with Patti LuPone. It was last revived on Broadway and in the West End in 2011-12 starring Tyne Daly.Trade ReviewMcNally's well-crafted, quip-filled drama — which depicts Callas teaching at Juilliard, circa 1971 (her voice was virtually destroyed by then) — is less a biography and more a love letter to La Divina. * Entertainment Weekly *Terrence McNally's brusque and brilliant rendering of Callas is the sort of meaty role actresses love to sink teeth and claws into * New York Daily News *

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Book Synopsis A Midsummer Night''s Dream is one of Shakespeare''s most popular comedies. This accessible introduction offers a springboard into the play, taking a hands-on, performance-based approach, exploring the challenges and the rewards it presents to actors, audiences and students. Springboard Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night''s Dream has a three-part structure: whether you''re watching or reading, Ben Crystal takes you through exactly what you need to know Before, During and After the play. He combines a genuine passion and understanding of Shakespeare with his experience as an actor, giving the reader a clear route to thinking about, understanding and enjoying A Midsummer Night''s Dream.Trade ReviewHaving Crystal as a companion through the stickier parts of Hamlet and Macbeth is like going to the theatre with an intelligent friend. * The Independent *How different it might have been if we’d had Ben Crystal’s sparky little books to introduce us. My Shakespearean epiphany would have come much sooner...[the books] lead newcomers into the play in question in a gentle, upbeat, unpretentious way. Fresh and slim, they’re about as far as could be from dusty, dry study guides relating to school exams...much better than the average theatre programme...I’d like to see them on sale in theatre bookshops, and/or wherever there’s a production of one of these plays...I’d also recommend them for classroom use. -- Susan Elkin * The Independent on Sunday *A highly worthwhile series, which should prove to be valuable for directors, actors and students…This formula really works. As an experiment, your dedicated reviewer tried out Macbeth in preparation for and following on from the Eve Best production of the Globe. The experience was definitely improved, with some of the tips on words and language proving especially helpful and enlightening… These really are excellent little guides that will prove informative to almost anybody with an interest in the subject. -- Philip Fisher * British Theatre Guide *

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Book SynopsisNo Fear Shakespeare: A Companion gives you the straight scoop on everything you really need to know about Shakespeare, including:

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Book SynopsisTo thine own text be trueLisa Peterson's translation ofHamletinto contemporary American English makes the play accessible to new audiences while keeping the soul of Shakespeare's writing intact. Lovers of Shakespeare's language take heart: Lisa Peterson's translation ofHamletinto contemporary American English was guided by the principle of First, do no harm. Leaving the most famous parts ofHamletuntouched, Peterson untied the language knots that can make the rest of the play difficult to understand in a single theatrical viewing. Peterson's translation makesHamletaccessible to new audiences, drawing out its timeless themes while helping to contextualize To be, or not tobe:that is the question, and Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, so that contemporary audiences can feel their full weight. This translation ofHamletwas written as part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Play On! project, which commissioned new translations of thirty-nine Shakespeare plays. These translati

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Book SynopsisChristopher Marlowe (1564-93) was an English playwright and poet, who through his establishment of blank verse as a medium for drama did much to free the Elizabethan theatre from the constraints of the medieval and Tudor dramatic tradition. His first play Tamburlaine the Great, was performed that same year, probably by the Admiral's Men with Edward Alleyn in the lead. With its swaggering power-hungry title character and gorgeous verse the play proved to be enormously popular; Marlowe quickly wrote a second part, which may have been produced later that year. Marlowe's most famous play, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, based on the medieval German legend of the scholar who sold his soul to the devil, was probably written and produced by 1590, although it was not published until 1604. Historically the play is important for utilizing the soliloquy as an aid to character analysis and development. The Jew of Malta (c. 1590) has another unscrupulous aspiring

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