The Shakespeare Hut

This book tells the forgotten story of the Shakespeare Hut, a vast, mock-Tudor building for New Zealand Anzac soldiers visiting London on leave from the front lines. Constructed in Bloomsbury in 1916, the Hut was to be the only built memorial to mark Shakespeare's Tercentenary in the midst of war. With a purpose-built performance space, its tiny stage hosted the biggest theatrical stars of the age. The Hut is a vivid and unique case study in cultural memory and performance of Shakespeare. One extraordinary building brings together Shakespeare's place in First World War theatre, in emerging new post-colonial identities, the story of Shakespearean performance in the twentieth century and in the struggle for women's suffrage. Grant Ferguson transports you to the Hut and its lively, idiosyncratic world. From a feminist-led stage to a hub of Indian intellectual and political debate, from a Shakespeare memorial to an Anzac social club, this is the story of a building truly at a crossroads.

"This book tells the forgotten story of the Shakespeare Hut, a vast, mock-Tudor building for New Zealand Anzac soldiers visiting London on leave from the front lines. Constructed in Bloomsbury in 1916, the Hut was to be the only built memorial to mark Shakespeare's Tercentenary in the midst of war. With a purpose-built performance space, its tiny stage hosted the biggest theatrical stars of the age. The Hut is a vivid and unique case study in cultural memory and performance of Shakespeare. One extraordinary building brings together Shakespeare's place in First World War theatre, in emerging new post-colonial identities, the story of Shakespearean performance in the twentieth century and in the struggle for women's suffrage. Grant Ferguson transports you to the Hut and its lively, idiosyncratic world. From a feminist-led stage to a hub of Indian intellectual and political debate, from a Shakespeare memorial to an Anzac social club, this is the story of a building truly at a crossroads."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Despite a recent surge of critical interest in the Shakespeare Tercentenary, a great deal has been forgotten about this key moment in the history of the place of Shakespeare in national and global culture – much more than has been remembered. This book offers new archival discoveries about, and new interpretations of, the Tercentenary celebrations in Britain, Australia and New Zealand and reflects on the long legacy of those celebrations. This collection gathers together five scholars from Britain, Australia and New Zealand to reflect on the modes of commemoration of Shakespeare across the hemispheres in and after the Tercentenary year, 1916. It was at this moment of remembering in 1916 that 'global Shakespeare' first emerged in recognizable form. Each contributor performs their own 'antipodal' reading, assessing in parallel events across two hemispheres, geographically opposite but politically and culturally connected in the wake of empire.

Presenting engaging, thought-provoking stories across centuries of military activity, this book demonstrates just how extensively Shakespeare's cultural capital has been deployed at times of national conflict. Drawing upon scholarly expertise in Shakespeare and War Studies, first-hand experience from public military figures and insights from world-renowned theatre directors, this is the first material history of how Shakespeare has been used in wartime. Addressing home fronts and battle fronts, the collection's broad chronological coverage encompasses the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the Russian War, the First and Second World Wars, and the Iraq War. Each chapter reveals an archival object that tells us something about who 'recruited' Shakespeare, what they did with him, and to what effect. Richly illustrated throughout, the collection uniquely uncovers the agendas that Shakespeare has been enlisted to support (and critique) at times of great national crisis and loss.

This book explores how Shakespeare is still alive as a global cultural icon, on the 400th anniversary of his death.

Women Making Shakespeare presents a series of 20-25 short essays that draw on a variety of resources, including interviews with directors, actors, and other performance practitioners, to explore the place (or constitutive absence) of women in the Shakespearean text and in the history of Shakespearean reception - the many ways women, working individually or in communities, have shaped and transformed the reception, performance, and teaching of Shakespeare from the 17th century to the present. The book highlights the essential role Shakespeare's texts have played in the historical development of feminism. Rather than a traditional collection of essays, Women Making Shakespeare brings together materials from diverse resources and uses diverse research methods to create something new and transformative. Among the many women's interactions with Shakespeare to be considered are acting (whether on the professional stage, in film, on lecture tours, or in staged readings), editing, teaching, academic writing, and recycling through adaptations and appropriations (film, novels, poems, plays, visual arts).

Uncovers how global Shakespeare Tercentenary commemorations addressed crises of imperial and national identities during the First World War.

British Theatre and the Great War examines how theatre in its various forms adapted itself to the new conditions of 1914-1918. Contributors discuss the roles played by the theatre industry. They draw on a range of source materials to show the different kinds of theatrical provision and performance cultures in operation not only in London but across parts of Britain and also in Australia and at the Front. As well as recovering lost works and highlighting new areas for investigation (regional theatre, prison camp theatre, troop entertainment, the threat from film, suburban theatre) the book offers revisionist analysis of how the conflict and its challenges were represented on stage at the time and the controversies it provoked. The volume offers new models for exploring the topic in an accessible, jargon-free way, and it shows how theatrical entertainment of the time can be seen as the `missing link’ in the study of First World War writing.