Macbeth And The Players

There is now considerable support for the view that a performance by an actor of genius can constitute a critical interpretation of a play and that only through such performance studies can a completely valid judgement about the play be made. In this paperback edition of a pioneering work, Dennis Bartholomeusz reconstructs from prompt copies, playbills and contemporary accounts, the major interpretations of the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth on the English stage from 1611 to the 1960s and relates the outstanding peformances of Burbage and Olivier, Siddons and Thorndike to the overall production history of Macbeth.

Murder mayhem and magic.Pushed by his wife to seize the throne Macbeth kills his rightful liege and then tries desperately to hold onto the kingdom that he has wrongfully usurped. Prophesy and magic abound in this dark moody and atmospheric play.Out damned spot! Out I say!One- two -why then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie my lord fie! A soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it when none can call ourpower to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?

Merely Players? marks a groundbreaking departure in Shakespeare studies by giving direct voice to the Shakespearean performer. It draws on three centuries worth of actors' written reflections on playing Shakespeare and brings together the dual worlds of performance and academia, providing a unique resource for the student and theatre-lover alike.

This is a collection of interviews of twenty-one actors from Shakespeare theaters and festivals across North America, from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland to the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario. The interviews celebrate the variety in education, training, and approaches to acting conducted by recognized performance scholars. Thus, this book combines scholarly expertise with actors' insights to produce unique views on contemporary Shakespearean performances in the United States and Canada, and fills an important niche in performance criticism. Michael W. Shurgot is Professor of Humanities at South Puget Sound Community College.

This 1998 book is the fourth volume of essays by twelve actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The fifth volume in this popular series of essays by actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.