Shakespeare, Memory and Performance

"Remember thee? Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat." In this distracted globe. Hamlet's lines pun on the globe as both his skull and the Globe Theatre. But what does memory have to do with Shakespeare and performances past and present? This is the first collection of essays to provide a meeting between the flourishing fields of memory studies and Shakespeare performance studies. The chapters explore a wide range of topics, from the means by which editors of Shakespeare plays try to help their readers remember performance to the ways actors sometimes forget Shakespeare?s lines, from the evocative memories instilled in the archives of costumes to the photographing of props that act as memories of performances past. The fifteen contributors are leaders in the field of Shakespeare performance studies and their considerations of the possibilities of the subject open up a rich new vein in Shakespeare studies.

Peter Holland is McMeel Family Professor in Shakespeare Studies and Department Chair, Department of Film, Television, and Theater at the University of Notre Dame.