Shakespeare and Social Engagement

Download Shakespeare and Social Engagement PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Berghahn Books
ISBN 13 : 1805390635
Total Pages : 182 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (53 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare and Social Engagement by : Rowan Mackenzie

Download or read book Shakespeare and Social Engagement written by Rowan Mackenzie and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2023-08-11 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shakespeare’s roots in applied and participatory performance practices have been recently explored within a wide variety of educational, theatrical and community settings. Shakespeare and Social Engagement explores these settings, as well as audiences who have largely been excluded from existing accounts of Shakespeare’s performance history. The contributions in this collected volume explore the complicated and vibrant encounters between a canonical cultural force and work that frequently characterizes itself as inclusive and egalitarian.

Shakespeare and Social Engagement

Download Shakespeare and Social Engagement PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Berghahn Books
ISBN 13 : 1805393537
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (53 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare and Social Engagement by : Rowan Mackenzie

Download or read book Shakespeare and Social Engagement written by Rowan Mackenzie and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2023-08-11 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shakespeare’s roots in applied and participatory performance practices have been recently explored within a wide variety of educational, theatrical and community settings. Shakespeare and Social Engagement explores these settings, as well as audiences who have largely been excluded from existing accounts of Shakespeare’s performance history. The contributions in this collected volume explore the complicated and vibrant encounters between a canonical cultural force and work that frequently characterizes itself as inclusive and egalitarian.

Shakespeare and Social Theory

Download Shakespeare and Social Theory PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 9781032017174
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (171 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare and Social Theory by : BRADD. SHORE

Download or read book Shakespeare and Social Theory written by BRADD. SHORE and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-08-23 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a bridge between Shakespeare Studies and classical social theory, opening up readings of Shakespeare to a new audience outside of literary studies and the humanities. Shakespeare has long been known as a 'great thinker' and this book reads his plays through the lens of an anthropologist, revealing new connections between Shakespeare's plays and the lives we now lead. Close readings of a selection of frequently studied plays - Hamlet, The Winter's Tale, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Julius Caesar and King Lear - engage with the plays in detail while connecting them with some of the biggest questions we all ask ourselves, about love, friendship, ritual, language, human interactions and the world around us. The plays are examined through various social theories including performance theory, cognitive theory, semiotics, exchange theory and structuralism. The book concludes with a consideration of how "the new astronomy" of his day and developments in optics changed the very idea of "perspective," and shaped Shakespeare's approach to embedding social theory in his dramatic texts. This accessible and engaging book will appeal to those approaching Shakespeare from outside literary studies, but will also be valuable to literature students approaching Shakespeare for the first time, or looking for a new angle on the plays.

The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice

Download The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1350327514
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (53 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice by : David Ruiter

Download or read book The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice written by David Ruiter and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-07-14 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice is a wide-ranging, authoritative guide to research on Shakespeare and issues of social justice and arts activism by an international team of leading scholars, directors, arts activists, and educators. Across four sections it explores the relevance and responsibility of art to the real world - to the significant teaching and learning, performance and practice, theory and economies that not only expand the discussion of literature and theatre, but also open the gates of engagement between the life of the mind and lived experience. The collection draws from noted scholars, writers and practitioners from around the globe to assert the power of art to question, disrupt and re-invigorate both the ties that bind and the barriers that divide us. A series of interviews with theatre practitioners and scholars opens the volume, establishing an initial portfolio of areas for research, exploration, and change. In Section 2 'The Practice of Shakespeare and Social Justice' contributors examine Shakespeare's place and possibilities in intervening on issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. Section 3 'The Performance of Shakespeare and Social Justice' traces Shakespeare and social justice in multiple global contexts; engaging productions grounded in the politics of Mexico, India, South Africa, China and aspects of Asian politics broadly, this section illuminates the burgeoning field of global production while keeping as a priority the political structures that make advocacy and resistance possible. The last section on 'Economies of Shakespeare' describes socio-economic and community issues that come to light in Shakespeare, and their potential to catalyse ongoing discussion and change in respect to wealth, distribution, equity, and humanity. --

The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice

Download The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1350140376
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (51 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice by : David Ruiter

Download or read book The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice written by David Ruiter and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-26 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice is a wide-ranging, authoritative guide to research on Shakespeare and issues of social justice and arts activism by an international team of leading scholars, directors, arts activists, and educators. Across four sections it explores the relevance and responsibility of art to the real world ? to the significant teaching and learning, performance and practice, theory and economies that not only expand the discussion of literature and theatre, but also open the gates of engagement between the life of the mind and lived experience. The collection draws from noted scholars, writers and practitioners from around the globe to assert the power of art to question, disrupt and re-invigorate both the ties that bind and the barriers that divide us. A series of interviews with theatre practitioners and scholars opens the volume, establishing an initial portfolio of areas for research, exploration, and change. In Section 2 'The Practice of Shakespeare and Social Justice' contributors examine Shakespeare's place and possibilities in intervening on issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. Section 3 'The Performance of Shakespeare and Social Justice' traces Shakespeare and social justice in multiple global contexts; engaging productions grounded in the politics of Mexico, India, South Africa, China and aspects of Asian politics broadly, this section illuminates the burgeoning field of global production while keeping as a priority the political structures that make advocacy and resistance possible. The last section on 'Economies of Shakespeare' describes socio-economic and community issues that come to light in Shakespeare, and their potential to catalyse ongoing discussion and change in respect to wealth, distribution, equity, and humanity. An annotated bibliography provides further guidance to those researching the subject.

Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare

Download Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Edinburgh University Press
ISBN 13 : 1474455603
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (744 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare by : Hillary Eklund

Download or read book Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare written by Hillary Eklund and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2019-09-09 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides diverse perspectives on Shakespeare and early modern literature that engage innovation, collaboration, and forward-looking practices.

Shakespeare and Community Performance

Download Shakespeare and Community Performance PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031332679
Total Pages : 294 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (313 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare and Community Performance by : Katherine Steele Brokaw

Download or read book Shakespeare and Community Performance written by Katherine Steele Brokaw and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-09-09 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores how productions of Shakespearean plays create meaning in specific communities, with special attention to issues of access, adaptation, and activism. Instead of focusing on large professional companies, it analyzes performances put on by community theatres and grassroots companies, and in applied drama projects. It looks at Shakespearean productions created by marginalized populations in Greater London, Harlem, and Los Angeles, a Hamlet staged in the remote Faroe Islands, and eco-theatre made in California’s Yosemite National Park. The book investigates why different communities perform Shakespeare, and what challenges, opportunities, and triumphs accompany the processes of theatrical production for both the artists and the communities in which they are embedded.

Creating Space for Shakespeare

Download Creating Space for Shakespeare PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1350272663
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (52 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Creating Space for Shakespeare by : Rowan Mackenzie

Download or read book Creating Space for Shakespeare written by Rowan Mackenzie and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-02-09 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Applied Shakespeare is attracting growing interest from practitioners and academics alike, all keen to understand the ways in which performing his works can offer opportunities for reflection, transformation, dialogue regarding social justice, and challenging of perceived limitations. This book adds a new dimension to the field by taking an interdisciplinary approach to topics which have traditionally been studied individually, examining the communication opportunities Shakespeare's work can offer for a range of marginalized people. It draws on a diverse range of projects from across the globe, many of which the author has facilitated or been directly involved with, including those with incarcerated people, people with mental health issues, learning disabilities and who have experienced homelessness. As this book evidences, Shakespeare can be used to alter the spatial constraints of people who feel imprisoned, whether literally or metaphorically, enabling them to speak and to be heard in ways which may previously have been elusive or unattainable. The book examines the use of trauma-informed principles to explore the ways in which consistency, longevity, trust and collaboration enable the development of resilience, positive autonomy and communication skills. It explores this phenomenon of creating space for people to find their own way of expressing themselves in a way that mainstream society can understand, whilst also challenging society to 'see better' and to hear better. This is not a process of social homogenisation but of encouraging positive interactions and removing the stigma of marginalization.

Shakespeare and Social Theory

Download Shakespeare and Social Theory PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000429784
Total Pages : 266 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (4 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare and Social Theory by : Bradd Shore

Download or read book Shakespeare and Social Theory written by Bradd Shore and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-08-23 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a bridge between Shakespeare studies and classical social theory, opening up readings of Shakespeare to a new audience outside of literary studies and the humanities. Shakespeare has long been known as a “great thinker” and this book reads his plays through the lens of an anthropologist, revealing new connections between Shakespeare’s plays and the lives we now lead. Close readings of a selection of frequently studied plays—Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, and King Lear—engage with the texts in detail while connecting them with some of the biggest questions we all ask ourselves, about love, friendship, ritual, language, human interactions, and the world around us. The plays are examined through various social theories including performance theory, cognitive theory, semiotics, exchange theory, and structuralism. The book concludes with a consideration of how “the new astronomy” of his day and developments in optics changed the very idea of “perspective,” and shaped Shakespeare’s approach to embedding social theory in his dramatic texts. This accessible and engaging book will appeal to those approaching Shakespeare from outside literary studies but will also be valuable to literature students approaching Shakespeare for the first time, or looking for a new angle on the plays.

The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice

Download The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1350140384
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (51 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice by : David Ruiter

Download or read book The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice written by David Ruiter and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-26 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Social Justice is a wide-ranging, authoritative guide to research on Shakespeare and issues of social justice and arts activism by an international team of leading scholars, directors, arts activists, and educators. Across four sections it explores the relevance and responsibility of art to the real world ? to the significant teaching and learning, performance and practice, theory and economies that not only expand the discussion of literature and theatre, but also open the gates of engagement between the life of the mind and lived experience. The collection draws from noted scholars, writers and practitioners from around the globe to assert the power of art to question, disrupt and re-invigorate both the ties that bind and the barriers that divide us. A series of interviews with theatre practitioners and scholars opens the volume, establishing an initial portfolio of areas for research, exploration, and change. In Section 2 'The Practice of Shakespeare and Social Justice' contributors examine Shakespeare's place and possibilities in intervening on issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. Section 3 'The Performance of Shakespeare and Social Justice' traces Shakespeare and social justice in multiple global contexts; engaging productions grounded in the politics of Mexico, India, South Africa, China and aspects of Asian politics broadly, this section illuminates the burgeoning field of global production while keeping as a priority the political structures that make advocacy and resistance possible. The last section on 'Economies of Shakespeare' describes socio-economic and community issues that come to light in Shakespeare, and their potential to catalyse ongoing discussion and change in respect to wealth, distribution, equity, and humanity. An annotated bibliography provides further guidance to those researching the subject.

Shakespeare and Trump

Download Shakespeare and Trump PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 1439919429
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (399 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare and Trump by : Jeffrey R. Wilson

Download or read book Shakespeare and Trump written by Jeffrey R. Wilson and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revealing the modernity of Shakespeare's politics, and the theatricality of Trump's

Shakespeare and Outsiders

Download Shakespeare and Outsiders PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 019166491X
Total Pages : 214 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare and Outsiders by : Marianne Novy

Download or read book Shakespeare and Outsiders written by Marianne Novy and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-06-27 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: OXFORD SHAKESPEARE TOPICS General Editors: Peter Holland and Stanley Wells Oxford Shakespeare Topics provide students and teachers with short books on important aspects of Shakespeare criticism and scholarship. Each book is written by an authority in its field, and combines accessible style with original discussion of its subject. This book traces Shakespeare's portrayal of outsiders in some of his most famous plays. Some of Shakespeare's most memorable characters are treated as outsiders in at least part of their plays—Othello, Shylock, Malvolio, Katherine (the 'Shrew') , Edmund, Caliban, and many others. Marked as different and regarded with hostility by some in their society, many of these characters have become icons of group identity. While many critics use the term 'outsider,' this is the first book to analyse it as a relative identity and not a fixed one, a position that characters move into and out of, to show some characters affirming their places as relative insiders by the way they treat others as more outsiders than they are, and to compare characters who are outsiders not just in terms of race and religion but also in terms of gender, age, poverty, illegitimate birth, psychology, morality, and other issues. Are male characters who love other men outsiders for that reason in Shakespeare? How is the suspicion of women presented differently than suspicion of racial or religious outsiders? How do the speeches in which various outsiders stand up for the rights of their group compare? Can an outsider be admired? How and why do the plays shift sympathy for or against outsiders? How and why do they show similarities between outsiders and insiders? With chapters on Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Othello, King Lear, The Tempest, and women as outsiders and insiders, this book considers such questions with attention both to recent historical research on Shakespeare's time and to specifics of the language of Shakespeare's plays and how they work on stage and screen.

Shakespeare’s Legal Ecologies

Download Shakespeare’s Legal Ecologies PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Northwestern University Press
ISBN 13 : 0810135183
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (11 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare’s Legal Ecologies by : Kevin Curran

Download or read book Shakespeare’s Legal Ecologies written by Kevin Curran and published by Northwestern University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shakespeare’s Legal Ecologies offers the first sustained examination of the relationship between law and selfhood in Shakespeare’s work. Taking five plays and the sonnets as case studies, Kevin Curran argues that law provided Shakespeare with the conceptual resources to imagine selfhood in social and distributed terms, as a product of interpersonal exchange or as a gathering of various material forces. In the course of these discussions, Curran reveals Shakespeare’s distinctly communitarian vision of personal and political experience, the way he regarded living, thinking, and acting in the world as materially and socially embedded practices. At the center of the book is Shakespeare’s fascination with questions that are fundamental to both law and philosophy: What are the sources of agency? What counts as a person? For whom am I responsible, and how far does that responsibility extend? What is truly mine? Curran guides readers through Shakespeare’s responses to these questions, paying careful attention to both historical and intellectual contexts. The result is a book that advances a new theory of Shakespeare’s imaginative relationship to law and an original account of law’s role in the ethical work of his plays and sonnets. Readers interested in Shakespeare, theater and philosophy, law, and the history of ideas will find Shakespeare’s Legal Ecologies to be an essential resource.

New Places: Shakespeare and Civic Creativity

Download New Places: Shakespeare and Civic Creativity PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1474244564
Total Pages : 319 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (742 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis New Places: Shakespeare and Civic Creativity by : Paul Edmondson

Download or read book New Places: Shakespeare and Civic Creativity written by Paul Edmondson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-04-05 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Places: Shakespeare and Civic Creativity documents and analyses the different ways in which a range of innovative projects take Shakespeare out into the world beyond education and the theatre. Mixing critical reflection on the social value of Shakespeare with new creative work in different forms and idioms, the volume triumphantly shows that Shakespeare can make a real contribution to contemporary civic life. Highlights include: Garrick's 1769 Shakespeare ode, its revival in 2016, and a devised performance interpretation of it; the full text of Carol Ann Duffy's A Shakespeare Masque (set to music by Sally Beamish); a new Shakespearean libretto inspired by Wagner; an exploration of the civic potential of new Shakespeare opera and ballet; a fresh Shakespeare-inspired poetic liturgy, including commissions by major British poets; a production of The Merchant of Venice marking the 500th anniversary of the Venetian Jewish Ghetto; and a remaking of Pericles as a response to the global migrant crisis.

Shakespeare and the Law

Download Shakespeare and the Law PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022637856X
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (263 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare and the Law by : Bradin Cormack

Download or read book Shakespeare and the Law written by Bradin Cormack and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-07-11 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "William Shakespeare is inextricably linked with the law. Legal documents make up most of the records we have of his life; trials, lawsuits, and legal terms permeate his plays. Gathering an extraordinary team of literary and legal scholars, philosophers, and even sitting judges, Shakespeare and the Law demonstrates that Shakespeare's thinking about legal concepts and legal practice points to a deep and sometimes vexed engagement with the law's technical workings, its underlying premises, and its social effects. Shakespeare and the Law opens with three essays that provide useful frameworks for approaching the topic, offering perspectives on law and literature that emphasize both the continuities and the contrasts between the two fields. In its second section, the book considers Shakespeare's awareness of common-law thinking and practice through examinations of Measure for Measure and Othello. Building and expanding on this question, the third part inquires into Shakespeare's general attitudes toward legal systems. A judge and former solicitor general rule on Shylock's demand for enforcement of his odd contract; and two essays by literary scholars take contrasting views on whether Shakespeare could imagine a functioning legal system. The fourth section looks at how law enters into conversation with issues of politics and community, both in the plays and in our own world. The volume concludes with a freewheeling colloquy among Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, Judge Richard A. Posner, Martha C. Nussbaum, and Richard Strier that covers everything from the ghost in Hamlet to the nature of judicial discretion"--Jacket.

Shakespeare, Italy, and Transnational Exchange

Download Shakespeare, Italy, and Transnational Exchange PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317210832
Total Pages : 310 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (172 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Shakespeare, Italy, and Transnational Exchange by : Enza De Francisci

Download or read book Shakespeare, Italy, and Transnational Exchange written by Enza De Francisci and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-05-12 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This interdisciplinary, transhistorical collection brings together international scholars from English literature, Italian studies, performance history, and comparative literature to offer new perspectives on the vibrant engagements between Shakespeare and Italian theatre, literary culture, and politics, from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century. Chapters address the intricate, two-way exchange between Shakespeare and Italy: how the artistic and intellectual culture of Renaissance Italy shaped Shakespeare’s drama in his own time, and how the afterlife of Shakespeare’s work and reputation in Italy since the eighteenth century has permeated Italian drama, poetry, opera, novels, and film. Responding to exciting recent scholarship on Shakespeare and Italy, as well as transnational theatre, this volume moves beyond conventional source study and familiar questions about influence, location, and adaptation to propose instead a new, evolving paradigm of cultural interchange. Essays in this volume, ranging in methodology from archival research to repertory study, are unified by an interest in how Shakespeare’s works represent and enact exchanges across the linguistic, cultural, and political boundaries separating England and Italy. Arranged chronologically, chapters address historically-contingent cultural negotiations: from networks, intertextual dialogues, and exchanges of ideas and people in the early modern period to questions of authenticity and formations of Italian cultural and national identity in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. They also explore problems of originality and ownership in twentieth- and twenty-first-century translations of Shakespeare’s works, and new settings and new media in highly personalized revisions that often make a paradoxical return to earlier origins. This book captures, defines, and explains these lively, shifting currents of cultural interchange.

Social Shakespeare

Download Social Shakespeare PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 134924225X
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (492 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Social Shakespeare by : Peter J. Smith

Download or read book Social Shakespeare written by Peter J. Smith and published by Springer. This book was released on 1995-12-13 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Social Shakespeare is a thoughtful and frequently incisive book wabout an important and complex topic.' - Terence Hawkes, Cahiers Elisabethains Shakespeare studies have become increasingly politicised and clashes of opinion amongst scholars are not uncommon. Social Shakespeare, in its enthusiasm for the plays themselves, attempts to bridge the gap between rival approaches, aiming as a distinct refocusing of political criticism upon the Shakespearean text as realised in performance. Modern Shakespeare productions have the potential to make far more political impact than academic studies and yet, until now, critics have been reluctant to recognise this potential. With reference to particular productions, backed up by illustrations, Peter J. Smith integrates critical understanding of the plays with evidence of their political impact on stage.