In the first English translation of Still Alive, the renowned Polish essayist and theater critic Jan Kott recounts his perilous odyssey through the endless political crises of Eastern Europe in the mid-twentieth-century, illuminating not only the fate of a whole generation of intellectuals, but also his main concern: how to make sense of one's own existence "As a portrayal of turbulent times, the book is priceless, in particular because of its extraordinarily vivid depictions of the atmosphere of everyday life under Communism."-Stanislaw Baranczak, Harvard University "An incisive and vivid...

An innovative director and a dazzling classicist bring complementary viewpoints to bear as they delve into the collected works, illuminating the constantly changing nature and philosophic nuances of the various plays. The book's centrepiece consists of insights on such plays as Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Troilus and Cressida and Measure for Measure. They reveal the ideas behind Shakespeare's plays and the process of bringing them alive before an audience, and present no-holds barred discussion on such subjects as The Shakespeare Industry. The Boundaries of Interpretation, Dramaturgy and...