Shakespeare and Audience in Practice

ISBN-13: 9780230364042 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 216 str.

Stephen Purcell

Opis

What do audiences do as they watch a Shakespearean play? What makes them respond in the ways that they do? This book examines a wide range of theatrical productions to explore the practice of being a modern Shakespearean audience. It surveys some of the most influential ideas about spectatorship in contemporary performance studies, and analyses the strategies employed both in the texts themselves and by modern theatre practitioners to position audiences in particular ways.

Spis treści

Prologue  PART I: INTRODUCTION  1. I, Malvolio and its Audiences: A Case Study  PART II: IN THEORY  2. Making Sense of the Stage  3. Agency, Community and Modern Theatre Practice  PART III: IN PRACTICE  4. Controlling the Audience?  5. Framing the Stage  6. Playing with the Audience  7. Immersion and Embodiment  8. Constructing the Audience  PART IV: DEBATE AND PROVOCATION  9. Pocket Henry V: A Collaborative Debate  Reading list.

O autorze

Stephen Purcell is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Warwick, UK. His research focuses on Shakespeare in contemporary performance and popular culture. His publications include Popular Shakespeare (2009) and The White Devil (2012) in The Shakespeare Handbooks series.

Blurb

What do audiences do as they watch a Shakespeare play? What makes them respond in the ways that they do?

Exploring the practice of being a modern Shakespearean audience, Stephen Purcell examines a wide range of theatrical productions, surveys some of the most influential ideas about spectatorship in contemporary performance studies, and analyses how both modern theatre practitioners and the play texts themselves position audiences in particular ways. Innovative and insightful, this book includes detailed case studies of two modern productions, a collaborative debate section, and suggestions for practical exercises and further reading.