Perspectives on Shakespeare in Performance (Studies in Shakespeare)

Perspectives on Shakespeare in Performance brings together Professor Styan’s thoughts on Shakespeare as a playwright who wrote essentially for the stage. As we read Shakespeare’s text, the sense of performance constantly reminds us that a play is a complete experience in a particular time and place, one always aimed at an audience in the theatre. Individual chapters touch on key elements such as the Elizabethan theatre in action, the way its open stage space controlled Shakespeare’s character and scene building, and the spectator’s perception of the unfolding drama. The entire study is rich in particular examples from Shakespeare’s plays.

The Author: J.L. Styan is the Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor Emeritus of English Literature and Theatre at Northwestern University. He received his M.A. at Cambridge, and has published more than a dozen books on Shakespeare and the drama, including Shakespeare’s Stagecraft and The Shakespeare Revolution. In 1995 he was awarded the Robert Lewis Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre Research.