Elizabeth Schafer – författare

Seismic shifts in the theatrical meanings of The Merry Wives of Windsor have taken place across the centuries as Shakespeare’s frequently performed play has relocated to Windsor across the world, journeying along the production/adaptation/appropriation continuum.This (eco-)performance history of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor not only offers the first in-depth analysis of the play in production, with a particular focus on the representation of merry women, but also utilises the comedy’s forest-aware dramaturgy to explore Mistress Page’s concept of being ‘frugal in my mirth’ in relation to sustainable theatre practices. Herne’s Oak – the fictitious tree in Windsor Forest where everyone meets in the final scene of the play – is utilised to enable a maverick but ecologically based reframing of the productions of Merry Wives analysed here.This study engages with gender, physical comedy, and cultural relocations of Windsor across the world to offer new insight into Merry Wives and its theatricality.

Seismic shifts in the theatrical meanings of The Merry Wives of Windsor have taken place across the centuries as Shakespeare’s frequently performed play has relocated to Windsor across the world, journeying along the production/adaptation/appropriation continuum.This (eco-)performance history of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor not only offers the first in-depth analysis of the play in production, with a particular focus on the representation of merry women, but also utilises the comedy’s forest-aware dramaturgy to explore Mistress Page’s concept of being ‘frugal in my mirth’ in relation to sustainable theatre practices. Herne’s Oak – the fictitious tree in Windsor Forest where everyone meets in the final scene of the play – is utilised to enable a maverick but ecologically based reframing of the productions of Merry Wives analysed here.This study engages with gender, physical comedy, and cultural relocations of Windsor across the world to offer new insight into Merry Wives and its theatricality.

Ben Jonson and Theatre is an investigation and celebration of Jonson's plays from the point of view of the theatre practitioner as well as the teacher. Reflecting the increasing interest in the wider field of Renaissance drama, this book bridges the theory/practice divide by debating how Jonson's drama operates in performance. Ben Jonson and Theatre includes:* discussions with and between practitioners* essays on the staging of the plays* edited transcripts of interviews with contemporary practitionersThe volume includes contributions from Joan Littlewood, Sam Mendes, John Nettles, Simon Russell Beale and Geoffrey Rush, Oscar-winning actor for Shine.

Ben Jonson and Theatre is an investigation and celebration of Jonson's plays from the point of view of the theatre practitioner as well as the teacher. Reflecting the increasing interest in the wider field of Renaissance drama, this book bridges the theory/practice divide by debating how Jonson's drama operates in performance. Ben Jonson and Theatre includes:* discussions with and between practitioners* essays on the staging of the plays* edited transcripts of interviews with contemporary practitionersThe volume includes contributions from Joan Littlewood, Sam Mendes, John Nettles, Simon Russell Beale and Geoffrey Rush, Oscar-winning actor for Shine.

For four centuries Twelfth Night has inspired theatre directors and performers: some have found class war; some have seen Malvolio as a tragic hero; some have found a passive Viola and others have found an action woman. Whether a production's emphasis is on gender bending, festivity, or trying to reinvent Shakespeare as Chekhov, the sheer variety of Twelfth Nights on offer over the centuries attests to the play's power as a stimulus to theatrical creativity. The dazzling range of the Twelfth Nights considered here includes the productively wayward as well as the conventionally respectable, productions which play to the contemporary market as well as those that seek to flout tradition. This indispensable stage history covers changing fashions in the fortunes of Twelfth Night, and includes a survey of a wide variety of theatrical interpretations of the play in the English-speaking world.

The story of Katherina Minola and her marriage to Petruchio has been popular in the theatre for four centuries. The Taming of the Shrew's ongoing appeal is easy to understand - it offers almost production-proof farce, plus the perennially popular joke of the battle of the sexes - but Katherina's story, and the joke of taming an unruly woman have become increasingly controversial. This edition of The Taming of the Shrew examines how theatre directors and performers have explored the complexities of Katherina's story and that of Christopher Sly, the poor man whose story frames that of Katherine. The edition surveys a wide variety of theatrical interpretations of the play in the English-speaking world, particularly in the UK, North America, and Australia and New Zealand. It informs readers about precise details of the stage action in the context of contemporary theatrical, social and political conditions.

The story of Katherina Minola and her marriage to Petruchio has been popular in the theatre for four centuries. The Taming of the Shrew's ongoing appeal is easy to understand - it offers almost production-proof farce, plus the perennially popular joke of the battle of the sexes - but Katherina's story, and the joke of taming an unruly woman have become increasingly controversial. This edition of The Taming of the Shrew examines how theatre directors and performers have explored the complexities of Katherina's story and that of Christopher Sly, the poor man whose story frames that of Katherine. The edition surveys a wide variety of theatrical interpretations of the play in the English-speaking world, particularly in the UK, North America, and Australia and New Zealand. It informs readers about precise details of the stage action in the context of contemporary theatrical, social and political conditions.

For four centuries Twelfth Night has inspired theatre directors and performers: some have found class war; some have seen Malvolio as a tragic hero; some have found a passive Viola and others have found an action woman. Whether a production's emphasis is on gender bending, festivity, or trying to reinvent Shakespeare as Chekhov, the sheer variety of Twelfth Nights on offer over the centuries attests to the play's power as a stimulus to theatrical creativity. The dazzling range of the Twelfth Nights considered here includes the productively wayward as well as the conventionally respectable, productions which play to the contemporary market as well as those that seek to flout tradition. This indispensable stage history covers changing fashions in the fortunes of Twelfth Night, and includes a survey of a wide variety of theatrical interpretations of the play in the English-speaking world.

The Witch (1615/16?), categorised by its author as 'a tragi-comedy', pits the intrigues of a group of Italian aristocrats against the malevolent practices of Hecate and her witches' coven, leaving the audience with the impression that human malevolence is by far the fiercer and more effective. This edition sets the play into its dramatic and literary contexts, ranging from Shakespeare's Macbeth and Middleton's own later tragedies to Reginald Scot's sceptical Discovery of Witchcraft and King James's virulent Daemonologie. It also argues that Middleton wrote it as a topical satire to capitalise on the scandal involving Frances Howard, who obtained a divorce from the Earl of Essex on the grounds that he had been sexually incapacitated by witchcraft; she was also rumoured to have tried to poison him. Middleton exposes his noble characters precisely by letting them get away with murder.

This volume examines the pioneering work of Phyllida Lloyd, whose all-female productions have revolutionised how Shakespeare’s plays are performed in 21st-century Britain.Following Lloyd from her first Shakespeare in Cheltenham in 1986, this book explores her radical casting practices and the importance of her collaborative rehearsal approach. While her 2003 all-female Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare’s Globe was met with both enthusiasm and resistance, it was her production of Julius Caesar in 2012 at the Donmar Warehouse which sent shock waves through the theatre industry. Alongside Henry IV in 2014 and a new production of The Tempest, Lloyd produced these plays together to create the Donmar Trilogy of 2016 to wide acclaim, a cultural landmark moment in which non-traditional casting had become mainstream.The book explores Lloyd’s ongoing relationships with major stars – Harriet Walter, Janet McTeer, Meryl Streep – and includes new interviews with both Lloyd and actors she has worked with across the last 40 years. It argues that Lloyd’s megamusical Mamma Mia! had a crucial impact on her directing practice, helping to pave the way for the Donmar Shakespeares. Ultimately Schafer and Bullen show that Lloyd’s career-long commitment to creating disturbance and diversity through her work has opened up what she calls the ‘crown jewels’ of British theatre – Shakespeare – to new audiences.

‘A spicy work of biographical conjecture ... It's also a rousing reminder of the countless creative women who have been written out of history or have had to fight relentlessly to make themselves heard.’ EVENING STANDARD‘The great virtue of Lloyd Malcolm’s speculative history lies in its passion and anger: it ends with a blazing address to the audience that is virtually a call to arms. It is throughout, however, a highly theatrical piece ... In rescuing Emilia from the shades, [the play] gives her dramatic life and polemical potency.’ GUARDIANThe little we know of Emilia Bassano Lanier (1569 - 1645) is that she may have been the Dark Lady of Shakespeare's Sonnets, mistress of Lord Chamberlain, one of the first English female poets to be published, a mother, teacher who founded a school for women, and radical feminist with North African ancestry.Living at a time when women had such limited opportunities, Emilia Lanier is therefore a fascinating subject for this speculative history. In telling her story, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm represents the stories of women everywhere whose narratives have been written out of history.Originally commissioned for Shakespeare's Globe with an all-female cast, Emilia is published here as a Methuen Drama Student Edition with commentary and notes by Elizabeth Schafer, Professor of Drama at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.