Literary studies: plays and playwrights Books
Oxford University Press Great Shakespeare Actors
Book SynopsisGreat Shakespeare Actors provides a series of well-informed, well-written, illuminating, and entertaining accounts of many of the most famous stage performers of Shakespeare in both England and America, offering a concise, actor-centred history of Shakespeare on the stage.Trade ReviewWells's vignette reports will make you wish you had been there... Eye-witness accounts are good, and especially when they are by actors such as Helen Faucit in the 19th century and by such academics as Stanley Wells in the 20th century, are invaluable. * Robert Tanitch, Mature Times *Wells's book is a mentor and companion to the Shakespeare lover. It can be dipped into at leisure as each chapter is complete in itself, but the text is so diverting and compulsive, so utterly knowledgeable and incisive, that it is difficult to find an easy pause. It is a book to cherish, to laugh with and to wonder at. * Sandra Callard, On: Yorkshire Magazine *Aimed at a broad readership, the book offers short biographies of "great Shakespeare actors" from Shakespeare's time to our own ... the book will very likely prove a helpful and entertaining resource for many. * Kevin Curran, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *Great Shakespeare Actors is most impressive when quarrying the more remote past, and, although it is suitable for dipping into, reading it straight through conveys a sense of how acting styles and actors' careers have changed. * Henry Hitchings, Spectator *[A] fascinating book. * Benedict Nightingale, New Statesman *Stanley Wells has his work cut out in Great Shakespeare Actors as he assesses around forty performers over the past four centuries, from Richard Burbage to Simon Russell Beale, offering brisk career summaries with a dash of scholarship and plenty of anecdote ... There's no shortage of excellent stories. * David Collard, The Times Literary Supplement *... Wells' passion is infectious. * New Republic, Charles Shafaieh *This collection is not only a useful source in itself, but opens up many other routes into theatre commentary, both historical and contemporary. * Heather Neill, Around the Globe *What could easily have been a repetitive book, as a series of actors is connected to a limited number of distinguished roles, is so well written that this never becomes the case. The writing is assured and never flags in an unexpected volume that is well worth dipping into. * British Theatre Guide, Philip Fisher *There's so much more in this fascinating book that I haven't been able to cover, so I can only urge you, if this kind of thing interests you, to go out and get a copy soon. You won't regret it. * Shiny New Books, Harriet Devine *Stanley Wells has written a book which is a total delight... unputdownable. * The Journal (Newcastle), Richard Edmonds *There is deep research here, lightly worn but nevertheless offering clear pointers for those who wish to study individual performers more closely, and for the great majority of the book there is also an engaging tone * Lisa Hopkins, Sheffield Hallam University, Times Higher Education *a brisk, fascinating theatrical voyage through more than four centuries * The Independent, Nicholas De Jongh *There is deep research here, lightly worn Wells is judicious and restrained and has a dry, crisp style. * Times Higher Education, Lisa Hopkins *Stanley Wells - Shakespeare's brightest and best champion for decades - has produced an absolutely wonderful and wildly readable survey of Shakespearean acting. With tremendous flashes of insight, Wells illuminates not just the staging and the modes of acting that predominated over the centuries, but also the true nature of Shakespeare as a provider of play scripts for actors and audiences. Superbly researched, this is a book that I shall revisit time and time again. * Stephen Fry *This astonishing book fills a vital gap on the shelves. Stanley Wells combines the detailed knowledge of a Shakespeare scholar with the sharp eye of a dramatic critic in a book that makes great performances come resonantly alive. If future generations want to know what Olivier or Dench really were like in Shakespeare, it is to this book that they will turn. * Michael Billington *In his own day, and ever since, Shakespeare's plays have been staged by some of the worlds most extraordinary actors. Stanley Wells, who knows these plays and their fascinating histories as well as anyone, offers here incisive portraits of exceptional actors who have performed Shakespeare over the past 400 years, from Burbage and Kemp up through Olivier, Dench, McKellen, and Beale. It's a thrilling and captivating account. * James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare *Stanley Wells's Great Shakespeare Actors is a companionable tour through the encyclopaedic knowledge of our greatest Shakespeare scholar, full of anecdote, erudition, and intimate firsthand observation. It's a tribute to a life of devotion to the theatre, on the page and on stage, informed by a living sense of what actors do, and who they are, and how they work. There are many classic lives here, but also, to me, some enjoyable surprises. * Margaret Drabble *a highly enjoyable book, clearly and pungently written. ... it will be of great help to the general reader, to Shakespeare students and to theatre historians alike as it allows us to reflect on the very essence of theatre * Sophie Chiari, Cercles *As well as drawing effectively on significant written accounts by actors and critics, Wells is particularly persuasive in analyses of visual and aural evidence * Russell Jackson, The Year's Contribution to Shakespeare Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction Prelude: William Shakespeare 1: Richard Burbage 2: Will Kemp 3: Robert Armin 4: Thomas Betterton 5: Charles Macklin 6: David Garrick Who Was the First Great Shakespeare Actress? 7: Sarah Siddons 8: George Frederick Cooke 9: John Philip Kemble 10: Dora Jordan 11: Edmund Kean 12: William Charles Macready 13: Helen Faucit Who Was the First Great American Shakespeare Actor? 14: Ira Aldridge 15: Charlotte Cushman 16: Edwin Booth 17: Henry Irving 18: Ellen Terry 19: Tommaso Salvini Times of Change 20: Edith Evans 21: Sybil Thorndike 22: Charles Laughton 23: Donald Wolfit 24: Ralph Richardson 25: John Gielgud 26: Laurence Olivier 27: Peggy Ashcroft 28: Michael Redgrave 29: Paul Scofield 30: Donald Sinden 31: Richard Pasco 32: Ian Richardson 33: Judi Dench 34: Derek Jacobi 35: Ian McKellen 36: Janet Suzman 37: Antony Sher 38: Simon Russell Beale 39: Kenneth Branagh
£12.59
Oxford University Press Exiles
Book SynopsisJames Joyce's only surviving play has divided Joyceans for a century. Illuminating the themes of performance that are so prominent throughout Joyce's fiction, Exiles sees Joyce staking his claim definitively within the European theatrical tradition.Trade ReviewThe book is complete with Walsh's useful notes and a well-established text and can safely be recommended to students. * Valérie Bénéjam, James Joyce Quarterly *Table of ContentsIntroduction Composition and Publication History Select Bibliography A Chronology of James Joyce EXILES Appendix A: 'Ibsen's New Drama' Appendix B: 'The Day of the Rabblement' Explanatory Notes
£8.54
Oxford University Press George Bernard Shaw
Book SynopsisGeorge Bernard Shaw has been called the second greatest playwright in English (after William Shakespeare) and one of the inventors of modern celebrity as the most famous public intellectual of his time. Beginning in the 1880s, as a critic and as a playwright, he transformed British drama, bringing to it intellectual substance, ethical imperatives, and modernity itself, setting the theatrical course for the subsequent century. That his legacy endures seventy years after his death is testament to the prescience of his thinking and his prolific creativity. This Very Short Introduction looks at Shaw''s life, starting with his upbringing in Ireland, and then takes a chronological approach through his works. Considering Shaw''s committed antagonism on behalf of a range of socio-political issues; his use of comedy as a mode for communicating serious ideas; and his rhetorical style that pushes conventional boundaries, Christopher Wixson provides an overview of the creative evolution of core themes throughout Shaw''s long career. 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.Table of ContentsIntroduction "Shavian" 1: "GBS" 2: "Unpleasant" 3: "Pleasant" 4: "Puritan" 5: "Political" 6: "Extravagant" 7: "Farfetched"
£9.49
Oxford University Press Henry VI Part One The Oxford Shakespeare
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- a new, modern-spelling text, collated and edited from all existing printings- On-page commentary and notes explain meaning, staging, language, and allusions- Detailed introduction considers the first performance in 1592 in relation to the 1623 folio, structure, theatrical history, and the role of women in the play- 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 volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the
£11.52
Oxford University Press Henry VI Part Three The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisThis new edition is based on the 1623 First Folio text and challenges conventional thinking about the nature and relationship of the earliest texts. It contributes substantial new evidence about Shakespeare's revision of the plays and the introduction and commentary focus on stage-oriented discussions of the play's meaning and reception.
£7.59
Oxford University Press Euripides Iphigenia in Tauris
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£999.99
Oxford University Press Modern Drama A Very Short Introduction Very Short
Book SynopsisThe story of modern drama is a tale of extremes, testing both audiences and actors to their limits through hostility and contrarianism. Spanning 1880 to the present, Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr shows how truly international a phenomenon modern drama has become, and how vibrant and diverse in both text and performance. This Very Short Introduction explores the major developments of modern drama, covering two decades per chapter, from early modernist theatre through post-war developments to more recent and contemporary theatre. Shepherd-Barr tracks the emergence of new theories from the likes of Brecht and Beckett alongside groundbreaking productions to illuminate the fascinating evolution of modern drama.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 ReviewShepherd-Barr manages to survey over a hundred years of Western drama in this pocket-sized book ... Providing a cursory, but considered, overview that introduces the reader to the richness and diversity of the topic in an engaging and readily comprehensible manner. That is no mean feat. * Adrian Curtin, Studies in Theatre and Performance *an excellent and insightful short introduction to modern drama * Adrian Curtin, Studies in Theatre and Performance *Modern Drama: A Very Short Introduction, is something of a marvel. A clear case is made for each of the eras of modern drama while also demonstrating the lasting influence of directors, playwrights, and styles. * Lee Jacobus, Emeritus Prof. of English, UConn, Storrs *Table of Contents1. 1880-1900: realism, naturalism and symbolism ; 2. 1900-1920: sex, suffrage, and scandal ; 3. 1920-1940: metatheatre and modernity ; 4. 1940-1960: salesmen , southerners, anger and ennui ; 5. 1960-1980: absurdism, protest and commitment ; 6. 1980-2000: bearing witness ; 7. 2000-present: contemporary theatre
£9.49
The University of Chicago Press How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today
Book SynopsisFrom the stages of Broadway and London to university campuses, Paris, and the bourgeoning theaters of Africa, Greek tragedy remains constantly in production. This title explains how Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles conceived their works in performance. It summarizes what we know about how their tragedies were actually staged.Trade Review"Simon Goldhill's new book is enthralling. A 'can't put down' and a 'forever reread.' His detailed analyses of so many past productions are rare and exciting. His unfolding of the Greek texts and the many different translations is both instructive and exhilarating. He reveals the contradictions within the specific structures of the characters, and also of the chorus, in a way that every actor will be grateful for. I never saw any of the productions he describes, explains, and analyzes, but I have an unforgettable secondhand memory of them, thanks to his own knowledge and keen joy in his subject." - Vanessa Redgrave"
£16.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Romeo and Juliet
Book SynopsisWith outstanding on-page explanatory notes, an in-depth scene-by-scene summary and fascinating interviews with actors David Tennant and AlexandraGilbreathanddirector Michael Attenborough, this fresh edition from the Royal Shakespeare Companyoffers enlightening new approaches to Shakespeare''s tragic love story.
£10.13
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Richard II
Book SynopsisJONATHAN BATE is Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature, University of Warwick, UK, and the editor of The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). 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
£11.45
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Comedy of Errors
Book SynopsisFrom the Royal Shakespeare Company a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare''s anarchic comedy. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of The Comedy of Errors in performance, takes a detailed look at specific productions, and recommends film versions. Included in this edition are interviews withthree leading directors Paul Hunter, Nancy Meckler and Tim Supple providing an illuminating insight into the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible. This edition also includes an essay on Shakespeare's career and Elizabethan theatre, and enables the reader to understand the play as it was originally intended as living theatre to be enjoyed and performed.Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare editions offer a fresh, accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare's works for the twenty-first century.Trade Review'A triumphant addition to our times.' - Fiona Shaw, The TimesTable of ContentsIntroduction About the Text Key Facts The Comedy of Errors Textual Notes Scene-by-Scene Analysis The Comedy of Errors in Performance: The RSC and Beyond Four Centuries of The Comedy of Errors: An Overview At the RSC The Director's Cut: interviews with Paul Hunter, Nancy Meckler and Tim Supple Shakespeare's Career in the Theatre Shakespeare's Works: A Chronology Further Reading and Viewing References Acknowledgements and Picture Credits
£10.90
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Coriolanus
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
£11.45
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Shakespeares Sonnets The RSC Shakespeare
Book SynopsisSIR JONATHAN 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 Table of ContentsForeword; F.Shaw Introduction; J. Bate The Sonnets.
£11.67
Yale University Press J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys The Real Story
Book SynopsisDrawing on a range of material by and about J.M. Barrie, this is a biography of the novelist, playwright, and author of "Peter Pan or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up". It includes material from recorded interviews with the Llewelyn Davies family and is reissued to mark the centenary of "Peter Pan".Trade Review"Mr. Birkin writes that he has tried to create ‘a documentary account,’ not an interpretive biography. He offers such a wealth of firsthand information that the book holds up 25 years after it was first published (it was reissued last year) and becomes a rich complement to the film. Beautifully designed, the book reproduces letters and diary entries from Barrie and his circle, as well as dozens of photographs."—Caryn James, New York Times"His most acute biographer, Andrew Birkin, whose, J. M. Barrie and the Lost Boys, has been granted a timely reissue. [It] digs up some astounding entries from Barrie’s private notebooks. Some are composed in the third person, as jottings toward a possible novel."—Anthony Lane, New Yorker"A psychological thriller . . . one of the year’s most complex and absorbing biographies."—Gerald Clarke, Time"A terrible and fascinating story."—Eve Auchincloss, Washington Post"It’s a brave biographer that takes on James Barrie…because Andrew Birkin’s extraordinary book about Barrie’s relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family, J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys, though more than a quarter-of-a-century old, continues to stick as firmly to Barrie’s identity as the shadow that Wendy sews back onto Peter." —Mark Bostridge, Independent on Sunday
£18.99
Yale University Press Shakespeare the Thinker
Book SynopsisPresents a study of Shakespeare's intellectual preoccupations. This book offers guidance to Shakespeare's plays and sheds light on questions that engrossed Shakespeare from his early plays to the late romances: the nature of motive, cause, personal identity and relation, the proper status of imagination, and ethics and subjectivity.Trade Review"'The delight of Nuttall's book springs not just from the incisiveness of his ideas but from the deftness with which he unfolds scenes and speeches. It is like walking through the countryside with someone who recognises every bird's song and each wild flower.' John Carey, The Sunday Times 'Shakespeare was above all interested in the process of making sense of life... A.D. Nuttall's Shakespeare the Thinker is a marvellously wise and humane account of that mind at work. Always highly intelligent and effortlessly readable, it is a book that draws a firm line under the age of 'theory' in Shakespeare studies.' Jonathan Bate, The Sunday Telegraph '... wonderfully incisive and unstuffy look at the Bard's ideas.' The Sunday Times 'A.D. Nuttall is an attentive, intelligent, common-sense reader of the plays. He has a good ear and a subtle mind, and delights in words and the placement of words.' A.S. Byatt, The Guardian"
£14.99
Yale University Press Second Chances
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Bloomsbury USA 3pl Understanding The Tempest
Book SynopsisWhile The Tempest has always been one of Shakespeare's most entertaining and enchanting plays, it continues to stir up passionate debate throughout the world because of its ideas and attitudes toward race, class, political power, and colonialism.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Dramatic Analysis The New World: The Discoverer and the Discovered Magic: Religion, Art, and Science Power: Legitimacy and Treachery Society: Marriage and the Court Performance and Interpretation Contemporary Applications Anti-Corporate Globalization The Paranormal and Fantasy Index
£44.10
Taylor & Francis Ltd The Routledge Anthology of Womens Theatre Theory
Book SynopsisThe Routledge Anthology of Women''s Theatre Theory and Dramatic Criticism is the first wide-ranging anthology of theatre theory and dramatic criticism by women writers. Reproducing key primary documents contextualized by short essays, the collection situates women's writing within, and also reframes the field's male-defined and male-dominated traditions. Its collection of documents demonstrates women's consistent and wide-ranging engagement with writing about theatre and performance and offers a more expansive understanding of the forms and locations of such theoretical and critical writing, dealing with materials that often lie outside established production and publication venues. This alternative tradition of theatre writing that emerges allows contemporary readers to form new ways of conceptualizing the field, bringing to the fore a long-neglected, vibrant, intelligent, deeply informed, and expanded canon that generates a new era of scholarship, learning, and artTable of Contents1. FIVE MEDIEVAL WOMEN: St. Perpetua (c. 185–203), Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), Hadewijch (c. 1200–1250), Katherine Sutton (d. 1376), Margery Kempe (c. 1373–1438)Andrew Galloway2. HROTSVIT OF GANDERSHEIM (c. 935–1002)Andrew Galloway3. MARGARET LUCAS CAVENDISH (c.1623–1673)Sujata Iyengar and Mikaela Warner4. APHRA BEHN (1640–1689)Joseph Roach5. ANNE FINCH (1661–1720)Christina Black6. SUSANNA CENTLIVRE (c. 1669–1723)Gillian Skinner7. CHARLOTTE LENNOX (1729–1804)Elizabeth Kraft8. CHARLOTTE CHARKE (1713–1760)Molly Marotta9. FRANCES BURNEY (1752–1840)Serena Baiesi10. HANNAH COWLEY (1743–1809)Melinda C. Finberg and Angela Escott11. LADY EGLANTINE WALLACE (c. 1754–1803)Lilla Maria Crisafulli12. SALLY SIDDONS (1775–1803)Laura Engel13. ELIZABETH INCHBALD (1753–1821)Lisa A. Freeman14. JOANNA BAILLIE (1762–1851)Thomas C. Crochunis15. FELICIA HEMANS (1793–1835)Diego Saglia16. ADELAIDE O’KEEFFE (1776–1865)Donelle Ruwe17. SARAH SIDDONS (1755–1831)Daniel O’Quinn18. “ANONYMOUS”Marjean D. Purinton19. MARY RUSSELL MITFORD (1787–1855)Serena Baiesi20. AMELIA CHESSON (1833–1902)Tracy C. Davis21. FRANCES A. KEMBLE (1809–1893)Catherine Burroughs22. OLIVE LOGAN (1839–1909)Merritt Denman Popp23. MICHAEL FIELD [KATHARINE HARRIS BRADLEY (1846–1914) AND EDITH EMMA COOPER (1861–1913)]Jill R. Ehnenn24. CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN (1860–1935)Andrew Tolle25. PHYLLIS ROBBINS (1883–1972)Kim Marra26. LADY AUGUSTA GREGORY (1852–1932)Marjorie Howes27. EDITH CRAIG (1869–1947)Katharine Cockin28. CHRISTOPHER ST. JOHN (1871–1960)Lesley Ferris29. BINODINI DASI (1862–1941)Aparna Dharwadker30. FLORENCE KIPER (1886–1976)Sharon Friedman31. MAY ISABEL FISK (1872–1955)Jennifer Schmidt32. DJUNA BARNES (1892–1982)Nick Salvato33. SOPHIE TREADWELL (1885–1970)Jerry Dickey34. VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882–1941)Shilo McGiff 35. ELIZABETH ROBINS (1862–1952)Joanne Gates36. LENA ASHWELL (1872–1957)Maggie Gale37. CONSTANCE ROURKE (1885–1941)Charlotte M. Canning38. CORNELIA OTIS SKINNER (1899–1979)Jennifer Schmidt39. GERTRUDE STEIN (1874–1946)Scott W. Klein 40. SUSAN GLASPELL (1876–1948)J. Ellen Gainor and Elizabeth A. Osborne41. HALLIE FLANAGAN (1889–1969)Elizabeth A. Osborne42. JOAN LITTLEWOOD (1914–2002)Fatine Bahar Karlidağ 43. ALICE CHILDRESS (1916–1994)Meenakashi Ponnuswami44. ANN JELLICOE (1927–2017)Kate Pierson45. BARBARA ANN TEER (1937–2008)La Donna L. Forsgren46. JUDITH MALINA (1926–2015)Kate Bredeson47. ROSE YUEN OW (1895–?)Krystyn Moon48. MARGUERITE DURAS (1914–1996)Shelley Orr49. MEGAN TERRY (1932–2023)Maya Roth50. DOROTHY HEWETT (1923–2002)Aoise Stratford51. MARÍA IRENE FORNÉS (1930–2018)Linda Ben-Zvi52. JANE CHAMBERS (1937–1983)Sara Warner53. ELFRIEDE JELINEK (b.1946)Anke Charton54. SUE-ELLEN CASE (b.1942)Penny Farfan55. ADRIENNE KENNEDY (b.1931)Maya E. Roth56. LIZ LOCHHEAD (b.1947)Aoise Stratford57. CONSTANCE CONGDON (b.1944)Ryan Platt58. ELIZABETH MACLENNAN (1938–2015)Gioia Angeletti59. MONSTROUS REGIMENT (1975–1993)Elaine Aston60. JILL DOLAN (b.1957)Jessica Del Vecchio61. THE DIVINA PROJECT (1989–1998)Juliet Guzzetta62. NEHAD SELAIHA (1945–2017)Marvin Carlson 63. PEGGY PHELAN (b.1959)Daniel Sack64. SUZAN-LORI PARKS (b.1963)Kristen Wright65. KATE BORNSTEIN (b.1948)Kara Raphaeli66. ELIN DIAMOND (b. 1948)Jen-Scott Mobley67. HÉLÈNE CIXOUS (b.1937)Rachel Morris Watson68. MĨCERE GĨTHAE MŨGO (1942–2023)Kellen Hoxworth69. DIANE GLANCY (b.1941)Birgit Däwes70. LOIS WEAVER (b.1949)Benjamin Gillespie71. JUDITH THOMPSON (b.1954)Erica Stevens Abbitt72. CHERRÍE MORAGA (b.1952)Lindsay Cummings73. AMAL ALLANA (b.1947)Aparna Dharwadker74. NAOMI WALLACE (b.1960)Lindsay B. Cummings75. MOJISOLA ADEBAYO (b.1971)Kellen Hoxworth76. LAUREN GUNDERSON (b.1982)Noelia Hernando-Real77. SARAH RUHL (b.1974)Amy Muse78. ELAINE ASTON (b.1958)Geraldine Harris79. DAME HARRIET WALTER (b.1950)Rosemary Malague80. CATHERINE KODICEK (b.1972)Katherine Gurnos-Davies81. SPIDERWOMAN THEATER (1976–) AND MURIEL MIGUEL (b.1937)Lilian Mengesha82. EMMA RICE (b.1967)Siouxsie Easter83. PAULA VOGEL (b.1951)Meghan Brodie84. ELAINE ROMEROJimmy A. Noriega85. VELINA HASU HOUSTON (b.1957)Eunha Na86. QUIARA ALEGRÍA HUDES (b.1977) and GABRIELA SERENA SANCHEZJ. Ellen Gainor87. WINSOME PINNOCK (b.1961)Gabriele Griffin88. TAKEMOTO KOSHIKÔ (b.1953)Maki Isaka89. ÉMILIE MONNET (b.1979)Lindsay LaChance
£35.14
WW Norton & Co Shakespeares Songbook
Book SynopsisA remarkable work that recovers the songs Shakespeare's audiences actually heard and brings them to life through performance.Trade Review"A wonderfully concise and informative guide to the songs and ballads. . . . The first complete collection." -- Times Literary Supplement
£35.99
WW Norton & Co The Jew of Malta
Book Synopsis
£15.20
WW Norton & Co The Duchess of Malfi
Book SynopsisThe great English Renaissance tragedy—violent, powerful, unforgettable—in a freshly edited and annotated student edition.
£19.82
WW Norton & Co The Oresteia
Book Synopsis“This critical edition provides a lavish and fulsome picture of ancient Greek tragedy’s most significant surviving document.” —Johanna Hanink, Brown University
£12.99
WW Norton & Co A Midsummer Nights Dream A Norton Critical
Book SynopsisThis Norton Critical Edition of one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies is based on the First Quarto text with variants from the First Folio.
£12.99
Heinemann Educational Books Spring Awakening
Book SynopsisWedekind's play about adolescent sexuality is as disturbing today as when it was first produced
£13.10
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Seagull
Book SynopsisTwo years after its disastrous opening in 1896, "The Seagull" was successfully revived at the Moscow Art Theatre. Checkhov's self-mocking description of the play was: "A comedy - 3F, 6M, four acts, rural scenery (a view over a lake); much talk of literature, little action, five bushels of love".
£12.71
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Oh What A Lovely War
Book SynopsisFully annotated student edition of a modern classic
£13.10
Pearson Education Limited Heinemann Advanced Shakespeare Measure for
Book SynopsisA "Heinemann Advanced Shakespeare" version of the play "Measure for Measure", designed for A Level students. Aimed at bridging the gap between GCSE and A Level, the work includes notes to help students understand the text, space for students' own annotation and activities and assignments.
£15.84
Faber & Faber The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett
Book SynopsisThis volume completes the publication of this series of notebooks, the plays in question being Play, Come and Go, Eh Joe, Footfalls, That Time and What Where.
£32.00
Pearson Education The Winters Tale York Notes Advanced everything
Book SynopsisYork Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.
£999.99
Pearson Education Richard II York Notes Advanced everything you
Book SynopsisYork Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.Table of Contents Study methods Introduction to the text Summaries with critical notes Themes and techniques Textual analysis of key passages Author biography Historical and literary background Modern and historical critical approaches Chronology Glossary of literary terms
£7.99
Pearson Education Saint Joan everything you need to catch up study and prepare for the 2025 and 2026 exams
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£7.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The School for Scandal
Book SynopsisAnn Blake is Honorary Fellow at the School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia
£11.67
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Ghosts Student Editions
Book SynopsisGhosts is Ibsen''s formidably realistic play about the effects of previous generations on the young, a stinging satire on contemporary Norwegian society and morality, and a haunting tragedy that, more than a century since it premiered, still retains its power to shock. In Ibsen''s study of the lingering poison in a marriage based on a lie, Osvald Alving returns from Paris to his mother''s home, carrying with him a dreadful secret. His mother''s delight at having him home soon turns to horror and grief. The corruption that she had hoped to spare him from when sending him away from the influence of his depraved father has in fact infected his whole body in the form of syphillis. In Mrs Alving and her son''s distrust of conventional religion and mores and Oswald''s anguish with life, Ibsen created a thoroughly modern and provocative work that created widespread outrage and shock when first produced in 1881. ''Meyer''s translations of Ibsen are a major Trade Review'Ghosts is a forboding litany of sins past which unravel to lay bare a series of creeping consequences that damn everyone involved, unwittingly or not.' Neil Cooper, Herald, 18.5.09 'Ibsen has the extraordinary capacity for building up tension like the force of water gathering behind a fracturing dyke. When the walls finally break, the ensuing flood is irresistible.' Mark Brown, Sunday Herald, 24.5.09 'Ibsen's most notable foray into the nature/nurture debate' Steve Cramer, Financial Times, 26.5.09 'When Ibsen's 1881 drama was first staged, the play didn't just tread on one taboo, it bravely waded through a messy bog of them.' Maxie Szalwinska, Sunday Times, 2.8.09
£11.45
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Oedipus the King
Book SynopsisA Student Edition of Sophocles' greatest tragedy in Don Taylor's acclaimed translation. With full commentary, notes and questions for further study this is the perfect edition for every student of drama, literature and classics.
£11.45
Manchester University Press Sarah Kane in Context
Book SynopsisFirst collection of essays, by some of the leading scholars in their field on one of the most controversial and influential dramatists who emerged during the In-Yer Face' generation of British dramatists in the 1990s. Essential, wide-ranging, European guide to Kane for students and scholars of Theatre Studies or English Literature. -- .Table of ContentsContentsIntroduction(Laurens De Vos and Graham Saunders)Part I: Surrounding Voices1. Reviewing the fabric of Blasted(Elaine Aston)2. Sarah Kane before Blasted: the monologues(Dan Rebellato)3. ‘Looks like there’s a war on’: Sarah Kane’s Blasted, political theatre and the Muslim Other(Aleks Sierz)4. Staging Power: the politics of sex and death in Seneca’s Phaedra and Kane’s Phaedra’s Love(Zina Giannopoulou)5. The Beckettian world of Sarah Kane(Graham Saunders)6. Cruelty, violence and rituals in Sarah Kane’s plays(Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier)7. Sarah Kane, experiential theatre and the revenant avant-garde(Clare Wallace)Part II: Subjectivity, Responsibility and Representation8. The voice of Kane(Ehren Fordyce)9. ‘I love you now’: time and desire in the plays of Sarah Kane(Robert I. Lublin)10. Sarah Kane and Antonin Artaud: cruelty towards the subjectile(Laurens De Vos)11. Posthumanist identities in Sarah Kane(Julie Waddington)12. Neither here nor there: theatrical space in Kane’s work(Annette Pankratz)13.‘Victim. Perpetrator. Bystander’: critical distance in Sarah Kane’s Theatre of Cruelty(Hillary Chute)14. Sarah Kane’s Phaedra's Love: staging the implacable(Peter A. Campbell)15. Under the surface of things. Sarah Kane’s Skin and the medium of theatre(Mateusz Borowski) 16. ‘We are anathema’ – Sarah Kane’s plays as postdramatic theatre v. the ‘Dreary and repugnant tale of sense’(Eckart Voigts-Virchow)Epilogue‘The mark of Kane’(Edward Bond)References List of Contributors Index
£18.99
Oxford University Press Shakespeare Made Easy Hamlet
Book SynopsisThe Shakespeare Made Easy series aims to take the fear out of Shakespeare. By having Shakespearean and Modern English facing each other, pupils will find it easier to comprehend the text. Through discussion of the life, work and theatre of Shakespeare pupils can gain a more rounded understanding of these classic works.
£17.33
Orion Publishing Co The Age of Shakespeare
Book Synopsis'The greatest literary scholar of his generation' (Independent) explains how the history of the Elizabethan era is the backdrop to William Shakespeare and his plays.
£9.99
Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies,US The Merchant of Venice
Book SynopsisAn updatedversion ofTheMerchant of Venicethat speaks to our contemporary reckoning with racism and injustice. Elise Thoron's translation of Shakespeare's searingTheMerchant of Venicecuts straight to the heart of today's fraught issues of social justice and systemic racism. Thoron's clear, compelling contemporary verse translationretainsthe power of the original iambic pentameter while allowing readers and audiences to fullycomprehendand directly experience the brutal dilemmas of Shakespeare's Venice,whereprejudice and privilege reign unchallenged. As the author of three acclaimed music-theater works on the Jewishexperience andinformed by her work directingcross-culturalprojects in locations as different as Russia, Japan, Cuba, and New York City, Thoron brings to herMerchantanimmediacythat speaks directly to the present reckoning with race in America. This translation was written as part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Play On! project, which commissioned new translations of thirTrade Review"This translation is easy to read, but retains the iambic pentameter and flow of an original Shakespeare. Overall, very well done." * Seattle Book Review *
£9.81
Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies,US Titus Andronicus
Book SynopsisShakespeare's tragic story of revenge is reimagined for the twenty-first century. One of Shakespeare's goriest plays, Titus Andronicus traces the fall of the Andronicus family in ancient Rome. Clinging to the ways of the past, Titus desperately seeks to remain loyal to the throne as his world crumbles around him. Amy Freed's translation of Titus Andronicus is careful and meticulous, making small but mighty changes in moments that enhance the drama of each scene. Freed's version gives this extraordinary play an even faster track on which to run. This translation of Titus Andronicus was written as part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Play On! project, which commissioned new translations of thirty-nine Shakespeare plays. These translations present work from The Bard in language accessible to modern audiences while never losing the beauty of Shakespeare's verse.Enlisting the talents of a diverse group of contemporary playwrights, screenwriters, and dramaturges from diverse backgroTable of ContentsAct 1Act 2Act 3Act 4Act 5
£9.81
Ibis Press Shakespeare and the Stars
Book SynopsisTo celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare''s death, this book offers fresh and exciting insights into the ever-popular works of the world''s greatest playwright. It specifically highlights Shakespeare''s use of the archetypal language of astrological symbolism in both obvious and subtle ways. Such references would have been commonly known in Shakespeare''s time, but their deeper significance is lost to modern-day playgoers and readers. The most unique aspect of this book is the revelation that many of Shakespeare''s plays are entirely keyed to a specific zodiacal sign and its associated (or ruling) planet. Shakespeare''s audience would have immediately grasped their significance in revealing character, foreshadowing the plot and establishing key themes for each play.The first half of the book provides necessary background for understanding the plays by describing the synthesis of both classical and Christian ideas in Shakespeare''s time. The seven planets were considered an int
£26.10
Cambridge University Press Shakespeares Visionary Women
Book SynopsisThis Element interrogates the scepticism that Shakespeare's visionary women face and considers the ways in which they perform the truth of their experiences to a hostile onstage audience. It concludes that prophecy gives women a brief access to political conversations in which they are not welcome as they wrest narrative control from male speakers.Table of Contents1. Introduction: given to lie; 2. The art of dissuasion; 3. Ambitious visions and/as sinful thought; 4. Believe not every spirit; 5. Sooth-Dreams; 6. Conclusion: looking back; References.
£17.00
Cambridge University Press Shakespeare and Neurodiversity
Book SynopsisShakespeare and Neurodiversity argues that the Shakespeare classroom should be a place where neurodivergent learners flourish. This Element addresses four key areas: questions of reasonable adjustments, the pace of learning, the issue of diagnosis, and Shakespearean neurodivergent futures in education. Throughout, the Element provides activities and theoretical explanations to enable students and educators to understand how these four areas of Shakespeare education have often been underpinned by ableism, but can now become sources of neurodivergent flourishing.
£17.00
Taylor & Francis Ltd Contemporary Australian Playwriting
Book SynopsisContemporary Australian Playwriting provides a thorough and accessible overview of the diverse and exciting new directions that Australian Playwriting is taking in the twenty-first century.In 2007, the most produced playwright on the Australian mainstage was William Shakespeare. In 2019, the most produced playwright on the Australian mainstage was Nakkiah Lui, a Gamilaroi and Torres Strait Islander woman. This book explores what has happened both on stage and off to generate this remarkable change. As writers of colour, queer writers, and gender diverse writers are produced on the mainstage in larger numbers, they bring new critical directions to the twenty-first century Australian stage. At a politically turbulent time when national identity is fractured, this book examines the ways in which Australia's leading playwrights have interrogated, problematised, and tried to make sense of the nation. Tracing contemporary trends, the book takes a thematic approach tTrade Review'Everyone working in the performing arts in Australia, or hoping to, should read this book. Stephen Carleton and Chris Hay have combined to produce vivid snapshots of the Australian stage from 2007 to 2020: a long but radical decade when the voices of new playwrights and creations of new directors and performers moved from the margins to the mainstage and changed our theatre forever.'Richard Fotheringham, Emeritus Professor of Theatre History, University of Queensland, Australia.'This vibrant investigation of recent mainstage drama in Australia is ingeniously structured to provide detailed interpretation of playwriting from 2007 until 2020, with extended, highly illuminating conversations between key playwrights embedded in each chapter. The major preoccupations and challenges of the nation are explored in this compelling study. This is a text for anyone interested in Australian theatre and its seismic shifts in recent times, which offers invaluable reading for students, practitioners and scholars.'Professor Anne Pender, Kidman Chair in Australian Studies, University of Adelaide, Australia.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Re-visioning the Nation on the Mainstage 1. Re-visioning the Comedy 1a. "Fuck Western classics": Anchuli Felicia King and Michelle Law in Conversation 2. Postmigrant Plays in Australia 2a. "Writing into otherness": Michele Lee and S. Shakthidharan in Conversation 3. Re-visioning Political Theatre and ‘Aussie Naturalism’ 3a. "We’re very anti-politics": Angela Betzien and Patricia Cornelius in Conversation 4. Theatre of the Anthropocene 4a. "We’re a teenage species": Andrew Bovell and David Finnigan in Conversation 5. Re-visioning Landscape from the Regions 5a. "Sorry about the swearing": Mary Anne Butler and Angus Cerini in Conversation 6. Adapt, or Else 6a. "I don’t adapt, I write": Kate Mulvany and Tom Wright in Conversation 7. Imagined Lives 7a. "You gotta glitter it up": Tommy Murphy and Alana Valentine in Conversation 8. Telling Stories in Person 8a. "I’m a polite visitor in this world": Glace Chase and Lally Katz in Conversation 9. Conclusion: Australian Playwriting in Lockdown
£34.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd The Radical Act of Listening Making Documentary
Book SynopsisThe Radical Act of Listening: Making Documenatry and Investigative Theatre explores best practices in the field of Documentary and Investigative theatre and offers readers a how-to guide for making their own work, written by a leading practitioner in the field.This book looks at how listening can radically bring about change through documentary and investigative theatre. It examines the mechanics and value of listening and how theatre practitioners can use these skills to create theatre. What does it mean to really listen, especially during a time when everyone is shouting? Can we listen without an agenda? Can we take what we hear and find ethical ways to share it with others so that we capture nuance, complexity, contradiction, i.e., all things human? In exploring these questions, author KJ Sanchez shares conversations with peers and fellow artists who work in the fields of interview-based and non-fiction art practices, to look at what it takes to be a great li
£31.99
Cambridge University Press Greek Memories
Book SynopsisGreek Memories aims to identify and examine the central concepts underlying the theories and practices of memory in the Greek world, from the archaic period to Late Antiquity, across all the main literary genres, and to trace some fundamental changes in these theories and practices.Table of ContentsIntroduction Luca Castagnoli and Paola Ceccarelli; Part I. Archaic and Early Classical Configurations of Memory: 1. Women and memory: the Iliad and the Kosovo cycle Lilah Grace Canevaro; 2. Speaking in the wax tablets of memory Peter Agócs; Part II. Memory and Forgetting in the Classical Period: 3. Economies of memory in Greek tragedy Paola Ceccarelli; 4. Aristophanes and his Muses, or memory in a comic key Silvia Milanezi; 5. Memory, the orators and the public in fourth-century BC Athens Mirko Canevaro; 6. The place and nature of memory in Greek historiography Catherine Darbo-Peschanski; 7. Lyric oblivion: when Sappho taught Socrates how to forget Andrea Capra; 8. Socratic forgetfulness and Platonic irony Ynon Wygoda; 9. Memory and recollection in Plato's Philebus: use and definitions R. A. H. King; 10. Is memory of the past? Aristotle and the objects of memory Luca Castagnoli; Part III. Hellenistic Configurations of Memory: 11. Hellenistic Cultural Memory: Helen and Menelaus between heroic fiction, ritual practice and poetic praise of the royal power (Theocritus 18) Claude Calame; 12. Physics, memory, ethics: the Epicurean road to happiness Emidio Spinelli; Part IV. The Imperial Period: Continuity and Change: 13. Claudius Aelianus: memory, mnemonics, and literature in the age of Caracalla Steven D. Smith; 14. Plotinus on memory, recollection and discursive thought Riccardo Chiaradonna; 15. Plotinus: remembering and forgetting Stephen R. L. Clark; Part V. Envoi: 16. Greek philosophers on how to memorise – and learn Maria Michela Sassi.
£29.99
Cambridge University Press As You Like It
Book SynopsisMichael Hattaway''s Introduction to this bestselling edition of As You Like It accounts for what makes this popular play both innocent and dangerous. This third edition includes a new section on recent critical interpretations, including sections on ecocriticism, peace studies, and myths of gender, on recent as well as past stage productions and films of the play, as well as fresh illustrations. An appendix on an early court performance in 1599, commentary on the play''s language, the book trade, and the discursive cultures of its time, as well as an updated reading list are also included.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Note on the text; List of characters; The play; Textual analysis; Appendixes; 1. An early court performance?; 2. Extracts from Shakespeare's principal source, Lodge's Rosalind; 3. The songs; Reading list.
£12.29
John Wiley & Sons Inc Playwriting For Dummies
Book SynopsisGetting a play written and produced is a daunting process. From creating story ideas, formatting the script, to marketing and financing your project, and incorporating professional insights on writing, there are plenty of ins and outs that every aspiring playwright needs to know.Table of ContentsIntroduction. Part I: Catching the Playwriting Bug. Chapter 1: Introducing the Art and Craft of Playwriting. Chapter 2: Living the Life of a Playwright. Chapter 3: What Makes a Play. Chapter 4: Starting with an Idea. Chapter 5: Finding Your Play's Theme. Part II: Creating a Blueprint for Your Play. Chapter 6: Putting Your Story in Focus. Chapter 7: Creating Full and Rich Characters. Chapter 8: Dialogue: The Most Important Tool in Your Toolbox. Chapter 9: Practical Considerations: Staging, Cast, and Audience. Part III: The Nuts and Bolts of Putting Your Story Together. Chapter 10: The Beginning: Finding a Starting Point for Your Play. Chapter 11: The Middle: Developing Your Story Line. Chapter 12: The Climax: Bringing the Confl ict to a Head. Chapter 13: The Resolution: Wrapping It All Up. Chapter 14: Giving the Musical Special Consideration. Part IV: The Show Must Go On. Chapter 15: Getting Your Play Read and Making Revisions. Chapter 16: Rehearsals and Premieres: Nail Biting 101. Chapter 17: Promoting Your Play and Getting a Production. Part V: The Part of Tens. Chapter 18: Ten Things Every Playwright Should Know. Chapter 19: Ten Hallmarks of a Great Play. Chapter 20: Ten Playwrights You Should Know and Emulate. Appendix: Formatting a Script. Index.
£17.09
Wiley-Blackwell Shakespeares Theatre
Book Synopsis
£30.35
