Series: Shakespeare in Performance

Of all Shakespeare's tragedies, Othello, with its issues of racism, jealousy and sexual stereotyping, seems most immediate to contemporary audiences. This work traces Othello's acting tradition as it has affected the roles of Othello, Desdemona, and Iago — demonstrating the emphasis placed on different characters in different countries. It examines various stage and screen versions of the play which reflect...

A Midsummer Night's Dream is Shakespeare's most enchanting comedy, and in the 20th century it has become perhaps his most popular play. It contains some of Shakespeare's loveliest poetry and is one of his most complex and effective dramatic structures. After a historical survey of the Dream from Shakespeare's time through to the 19th century, Jay Halio focuses primarily on...

Through a study of ten modern stage and screen productions of King Lear, this book examines the way performance and interpretation are bound together, and shows how different performances have illuminated the contradictions in this play. The updated second edition includes new chapters on Ian Holm's television performance, and Akira Kurosawa's Ran.

The Henry VI plays are Shakespeare's earliest, most theatrically exciting plays and in their day, they were among his most popular works. In a story which stretches over thirty years, Shakespeare dramatises the fall of the House of Lancaster and creates some of his most compelling characters, among them the Queen Margaret and the wildly ambitious Richard, Duke of Gloucester...