Shakespearean author and actor Ben Crystal gives a unique introduction to A Midsummer Night's Dream with guidance on what to think about before, during and after you see or study the play.
This unique book desribes the ways in which educational practitioners at Shakespeare's Globe theatre bring Shakespeare to life for students of all ages.The Globe approach is always active and inclusive - each student finds their own way into Shakespeare - focussing on speaking, moving and performing rather than reading. Drawing on her rich and varied experience as a teacher, Fiona Banks offers a range of examples and practical ideas teachers can take and adapt for their own lessons. The result is a stimulating and inspiring book for teachers of drama and English keen to enliven and enrich their students' experience of Shakespeare.
Excellent sales of Crystal's widely-acclaimed earlier book, Shakespeare on Toast..Ideal short introduction or revision guide for A level and undergraduate students..Ben Crystal has a high profile amongst A Level students and teachers as he takes part in the Shakespeare Live programme of study days every year
Shakespearean author and actor Ben Crystal gives a unique introduction to Hamlet with guidance on what to think about before, during and after you see or study the play
Shakespearean author and actor Ben Crystal gives a unique introduction to King Lear with guidance on what to think about before, during and after you see or study the play.
In the Renaissance period the body emerges as the repository of social and cultural forces and a privileged metaphor for political practices and legal codification. Due to its ambivalent expressive force, it represents the seat and the means for the performance of normative identity and at the same time of alterity. The essays of the collection address the manifold articulations of this topic, demonstrating how the inscription of the body within the discursive spheres of gender identity, sexuality, law, and politics align its materiality with discourses whose effects are themselves material. The aesthetic and performative dimension of law inform the debates on the juridical constitution of authority, as well as its reflection on the formation and the moulding of individual subjectivity. Moreover, the inherently theatrical elements of the law find an analogy in the popular theatre, where juridical practices are represented, challenged, occasionally subverted or created. The works analyzed in the volume, in their ample spectre of topics and contexts aim at demonstrating how in the Renaissance period the body was the privileged focus of the social, legal and cultural imagination.
An absolutely joyous, gasp-out-loud achievement. - Stephen Fry A cathedral of consciousness - Shakespeare's uncanny insight into human nature finds us, unearthed here. - LionHeart, artist, poet, and BBC Radio London presenter Shakespeare had an ear and hand that was able to capture our everyday thoughts and emotions, pin them to a page, and express them so well that still today they can make us feel stunned to be seen. 'Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.' 'Make not your thoughts your prisons.' 'Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.' 'And I have heard it said, unbidden guests are often welcomest when they're gone.' With a quote for every day of the year, this beautiful book gathers the finest lines from the lesser-known corners of Shakespeare's plays and poems. While you may not be familiar with these 400-year-old phrases, you will be surprised by the immediate, easy resonance they have with modern day-to-day life and, hopefully, inspired to learn a few quotes, say them out loud, and drop them into conversation. Each page bears a gift of Shakespearean delight - around which lies a treasure trove of trivia, miscellaneous fact, and opportunities for reflection. The Crystals - son and father - draw attention to points of daily life, literary, linguistic, and theatrical interest through their entertaining commentary. They offer notes of context for anyone who wants to know who originally said the words, in which play, and why. And finally, the authors provide three indexes, allowing readers to help find the right quote for a task, or to follow-up on a quote's original source. Shakespeare's words are a mirror for us to peer into, to see if any part of ourselves, familiar or strange, is visible. Each day as you read his lines, you'll get glimpses of loves you've known, jealousies you've felt, relationships you've had, and situations you've encountered that bring a smile - or a wince - of familiarity. Everyday Shakespeare shares the simple lines that encapsulate the wondrous complexity of life, and the enduring appeal of the Bard. Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time. - Ben Jonson
This book analyzes, through easy-to-follow play synopses, the strengths and weaknesses of the female protagonists as they impact not only the plot of Shakespeare's plays but the male protagonist. Selected, condensed one-act versions of the plays are provided in order to enrich the discussion of the play, to stimulate in reading the play in its entirety, and to provide a springboard for group discussion of the play and the impact of the women. Contents: William Shakespeare: His Art, Life and Times; The Women of Shakespeare's Plays: An Overview; The Comedy of Errors; Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Julius Caesar; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Macbeth; Much Ado About Nothing; Othello the Moor of Venice; The Taming of the Shrew; Antony and Cleopatra; Twelfth Night or What You Will; Romeo and Juliet; The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Bibliography.
A Year of Shakespeare gives a uniquely expert and exciting overview of the largest Shakespeare celebration the world has ever known: the World Shakespeare Festival 2012. This is the only book to describe and analyse each of the Festival's 73 productions in well-informed,lively reviews by eminent and up-and-coming scholars and critics from the UK and around the world. A rich resource of critical interest to all students, scholars and lovers of Shakespeare, the book also captures the excitement of this extraordinary event. A Year of Shakespeare provides: • a ground-breaking collection of Shakespearean reviews, covering all of the Festival's productions; • a dynamic visual record through a wide range of production photographs; • incisive analysis of the Festival's significance in the wider context of the Cultural Olympiad 2012. All the world really is a stage, and it's time for curtain-up...