'Lester's distinctive combination of intellectual engagement and a lifetime of artistic labour complements the expansive spirit of the collection beautifully and evocatively; and it will prove useful to scholars, students, and theatre practitioners alike … this is one collection this happy reader will return to time and again: it sings, elevates, and imagines radically and otherwise.' Mira Assaf Kafantaris, Early Theatre
1. Did the concept of race exist for Shakespeare and his contemporaries?: an introduction Ayanna Thompson; 2. The materials of race: staging the black and white binary in the early modern theatre Farah Karim-Cooper; 3. Barbarian Moors: documenting racial formation in early modern England Ambereen Dadabhoy; 4. Racist humor and Shakespearean comedy Patricia Akhimie; 5. Race in Shakespeare's histories Andrew Hadfield; 6. Race in Shakespeare's tragedies Carol Mejia LaPerle; 7. Experimental Othello Matthew Dimmock; 8. Flesh and blood: race and religion in The Merchant of Venice Dennis Austin Britton; 9. Was sexuality racialized for Shakespeare?: Antony and Cleopatra Melissa E. Sanchez; 10. The Tempest and early modern conceptions of race Virginia Mason Vaughan and Alden T. Vaughan; 11. Shakespeare, race, and globalization: Titus Andronicus Noémie Ndiaye; 12. How to think like Ira Aldridge Scott Newstok; 13. What is the history of actors of color performing in Shakespeare in the UK? Urvashi Chakravarty; 14. Actresses of color and Shakespearean performance: the question of reception Joyce Green MacDonald; 15. Othello: a performance perspective Adrian Lester; 16. Are Shakespeare's plays racially progressive? The answer is in our hands Miles Grier; 17. How have post-colonial approaches enriched Shakespeare's works? Sandra Young; 18. Is it possible to read Shakespeare through critical white studies? Arthur L. Little.