This collection of essays brings a range of contemporary critical perspectives to bear upon the practical questions of performing Shakespeare. It offers an overview of the productive interplay between cultural materialism, theatre semiotics, feminism, deconstruction and performance criticism. Among the issues considerd are: textual indeterminancy and the contingencies of performance; the implications of gender, race and class for audience response; reading the actor's body as a site of cultural inscription and post-colonial strategies for performing the hegemonic Shakespeare.

This collection of essays brings a range of contemporary critical perspectives to bear upon the practical questions of performing Shakespeare. It offers an overview of the productive interplay between cultural materialism, theatre semiotics, feminism, deconstruction and performance criticism. Among the issues considerd are: textual indeterminancy and the contingencies of performance; the implications of gender, race and class for audience response; reading the actor's body as a site of cultural inscription and post-colonial strategies for performing the hegemonic Shakespeare.