{"product_id":"my-shakespeare-9781350330191","title":"My Shakespeare","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE TIMES'' BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR\u003c\/b\u003eThis book charts the personal and professional journey of Greg Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2012 until 2022 and one of the great Shakespearians of his generation (\u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e).  During his illustrious career, Doran has directed or produced all of the plays within Shakespeare''s First Folio -- a milestone reached in the same year that the world celebrates the 400th anniversary of its original publication.  Each chapter looks at a different play, considering the choices made and weaving in both autobiographical detail and background on the RSC, as well as giving insights into key collaborations, including those with actors such as Judi Dench, David Tennant, Harriet Walter, Patrick Stewart, Simon Russell Beale, Paterson Joseph and Doran''s husband, the late Antony Sher, as well as seminal practitioners such as Cicely Berry, John Barton and Terry Hands. The book also includes 16 striking pages with stills fr\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis career retrospective, centred on the Folio, reflects Doran’s temperament: \u003cb\u003edecent, diligent, likeable, lucid\u003c\/b\u003e. It’s \u003cb\u003eopenly learned\u003c\/b\u003e, plunging into a close reading of Romeo and Juliet’s prologue, but it’s also candid. -- Dominic Cavendish * The Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eIt has given me so much joy to read the story of Greg Doran's journey through these great plays. Fantastic, informative, revealing, occasionally gossipy and thoroughly engrossing, this is a remarkable memoir of a remarkable career. Greg Doran’s brilliance, clarity of thought and – most of all – his humanity shines through. * David Tennant *\u003cbr\u003eOne of the distinctive achievements of Greg Doran’s recently concluded term as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company was to direct all the plays in the \u003ci\u003eFirst Folio\u003c\/i\u003e, creating a deposit of excellent, thoughtful renderings. His recollections and reflections on these productions are collected in \u003ci\u003eMy Shakespeare\u003c\/i\u003e. Some chapters are almost entirely anecdotal, but there are few if any that fail to cast some new light on the drama under discussion. -- Rowan Williams * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eDoran reflects with intelligence and grace and wit on himself and those with whom he has worked, and on the ways in which they sought to breathe fresh life into a series of plays that, for the most part, audiences think they know well … You’ll find it an informative-instructive delight. -- Rhodri Lewis * Prospect Magazine *\u003cbr\u003eThis year marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, which was met with a deluge of accompanying books. \u003cb\u003eThis is the best and most fun\u003c\/b\u003e. * The Times, Best Poetry and Literature Books of the Year *\u003cbr\u003eA revelatory and revolutionary breakdown of the canon in a way that works for both the professional and uninitiated. His (obviously tight) grip on Shakespeare's universe is permeated by reverence and deference, but what seeps through the pages is his pure love for his language and characters … It's a joy to (re)discover Shakespeare's plays through his eyes. -- Cindy Marcolina * Broadway World *\u003cbr\u003eWhether you are looking for insights into both major and minor works by the Bard, the story of two theatrical giants or a history of the RSC over the last few decades, \u003ci\u003eMy Shakespeare\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ea must-read and must-buy\u003c\/b\u003e, since this is the kind of \u003cb\u003ethoughtful, well-written and consistently entertaining book\u003c\/b\u003e that any lover of serious theatre would be delighted to read or receive as a gift. For any budding director who wants to bring Shakespeare to the stage, it could also act as \u003cb\u003ea highly readable manual\u003c\/b\u003e, offering morsels of intelligent guidance that only come with a lifetime’s experience. -- Philip Fisher * British Theatre Guide *\u003cbr\u003eWhat runs through this\u003cb\u003e fascinating\u003c\/b\u003e book is not only [Doran’s] passionate commitment, but his belief that Shakespeare holds up a mirror to all our lives and to the tumultuous times in which we live … The results are \u003cb\u003econstantly illuminating\u003c\/b\u003e … This is a very good book that reminds us that practitioners often make the best commentators … \u003cb\u003e[A] thought-provoking journey \u003c\/b\u003ethrough the First Folio. -- Michael Billington * Country Life *\u003cbr\u003eGreg Doran’s \u003ci\u003eMy Shakespeare \u003c\/i\u003egenerously offers us all the most intimate understanding of what the works of Shakespeare can give us; life with all its tragic and comic masks. Doran writes for the lover of Shakespeare, but allows those tentative about Shakespeare's genius to understand why his storytelling is miraculously both universal and local. \u003ci\u003eMy Shakespeare\u003c\/i\u003e is a worthy addition to the study of Shakespeare’s plays in performance - and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make me itch to get on stage again, to exercise my acting muscles in the greatest poetry-gym in the English language. * Paterson Joseph *\u003cbr\u003eGreg Doran’s writing, like his productions, comes from an honest, ungimmicky place. He infects the reader with his own curiosity about the world that gave birth to Shakespeare and how and why he still connects with us. He combines an unostentatious erudition with stories of a deeply personal journey from schoolboy visits to the RSC at Stratford to becoming its Artistic Director. I am so glad everyone can now be let in on his revelatory insights and not just those of us who have been lucky enough to be in a rehearsal room with him. * Harriet Walter *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter                                                                                                           Page Introduction                                                                                                     8 1          Romeo and Juliet: A Prologue                                                            9                                               2          Titus Andronicus                                                                                 23 3          Henry VIII, or All is True.                                                                    31 4          The Merchant of Venice                                                                     39 5          The Winter’s Tale                                                                                45 6          Timon of Athens                                                                                  50 7          Macbeth                                                                                              55 8          As You Like It                                                                                      65 9          King John                                                                                            69 10        Much Ado About Nothing                                                                    75 11        The Taming of The Shrew                                                                  85 12        All’s Well That Ends Well                                                                    92 13        Othello                                                                                                 98 14        Venus \u0026amp; Adonis                                                                                  110                   15        A Midsummer Night’s Dream                                                             116 16        Antony \u0026amp; Cleopatra                                                                            127 17        Merry Wives: The Musical                                                                  134 18        Coriolanus                                                                                           139 19        Hamlet                                                                                                144 20        Love’s Labour’s Lost                                                                           153 21        Twelfth Night                                                                                       161 22        Julius Caesar                                                                                      168 23        Richard II                                                                                            176 24        Henry IV Part One                                                                              183 25        Henry IV Part Two                                                                              200 26        Henry V                                                                                               203 27        King Lear                                                                                             209 28        The Tempest                                                                                       217 29        Troilus and Cressida                                                                           225 30        Measure for Measure                                                                         231 31        The Comedy of Errors (a lockdown chapter)                                     235 32        Henry VI Part One                                                                              240 33        Henry VI Part Two                                                                              249 34        Henry VI Part Three                                                                            253 35        Richard III                                                                                           255 36        Cymbeline: An Epilogue                                                                     268","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48866599698775,"sku":"9781350330191","price":23.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781350330191.jpg?v=1722279399","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/my-shakespeare-9781350330191","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}