- Home
- ACADEMIC
- Drama & Performance Studies
- Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
- Stage Directions and Shakespearean Theatre
Stage Directions and Shakespearean Theatre
Stage Directions and Shakespearean Theatre
You must sign in to add this item to your wishlist. Please sign in or create an account
Description
What do 'stage directions' do in early modern drama? Who or what are they directing: action on the stage, or imagination via the page? Is the label 'stage direction' helpful or misleading? Do these 'directions' provide evidence of Renaissance playhouse practice? What happens when we put them at the centre of literary close readings of early modern plays?
Stage Directions and Shakespearean Theatre investigates these problems through innovative research by a range of international experts. This collection of essays examines the creative possibilities of stage directions and and their implications for actors and audiences, readers and editors, historians and contemporary critics. Looking at the different ways stage directions make meaning, this volume provides new insights into a range of Renaissance plays.
Table of Contents
Note on the Text;
List of Contributors;
Introduction;
Part One: Taxonomy
1. Inventing Stage Directions;Demoting Dumb Shows by Tiffany Stern, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.
2. The Boundaries of Stage Directions by Laurie Maguire, Oxford University, UK.
3. Peter falls into the hole': Nonce Stage Directions and the Idea of the Dictionary by Paul Menzer, Mary Baldwin University, USA; and Jess Hamlet, University of Alabama, USA.
Part Two: Text
4. Reading Shakespeare's Stage Directions by Emma Smith, Hertford College, Oxford, UK.
5. Shakespeare's Literary Stage Directions by Douglas Bruster, University of Texas, USA.
Part Three: Editing
6. When is a Missing Stage Direction Missing? Suzanne Gossett;
7. Editing and Directing: Mise en scene, mise en page by Terri Bourus, Florida State University, USA.
Part Four: Space
8. 'By indirections find directions out': Unpicking Early Modern Stage Directions by Martin White, University of Bristol, UK.
9. 'Strikes open a curtain where appears a body': Discovering Death in Stage Directions by Sarah Dustagheer, University of Kent, UK; with Philip Bird, actor, director and playwright, UK.
Part Five: Plays
10. Enter Macduffe, with Macbeths head':
Shakespeare's Macbeth and the Staging of Trauma by Andrew Hiscock, Bangor University, UK.
11. '(From the Dutchesse Grave)': Echoic Liminalities in The Duchess of Malfi by Sarah Lewis, King's College London, UK.
12. Understanding Dumb Shows and Interpreting The White Devil by Gillian Woods, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK.
Notes;
Critical Bibliography;
Index;
Product details
| Published | 14 Dec 2017 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 368 |
| ISBN | 9781474257497 |
| Imprint | The Arden Shakespeare |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
-
A collection that puts under new scrutiny the textual expression of the early modern theater's original practices. Essays do an admirable job of estranging an overfamiliar form…
Studies in English Literature 1500-1900
-
The essays in this collection provide a foundation for the 'rethinking' of stage directions promised by the editors' introduction ... The variety of viewpoints and methodologies offered here ultimately attests to the evolving nature of the conversation around the function of stage directions in early modern plays.
Notes and Queries
ONLINE RESOURCES
Bloomsbury Collections
This book is available on Bloomsbury Collections where your library has access.

















