Shakespeare and Audience in Practice

The first excellent volume in an exciting new series which brings the study of Shakespeare performance into energizing engagement with current explorations of performance as practice.' - Peter Holland, McMeel Family Professor in Shakespeare Studies, University of Notre Dame, USA 'This innovative series will provide information and incentive for students of either Shakespeare or Theatre.' - John Russell Brown, founding series editor of The Shakespeare Handbooks

What do audiences do as they watch a Shakespearean play? It surveys some of the most influential ideas about spectatorship in contemporary performance studies, and analyses the strategies employed both in the texts themselves and by modern theatre practitioners to position audiences in particular ways.

What do audiences do as they watch a Shakespearean play? What makes them respond in the ways that they do? This book examines a wide range of theatrical productions to explore the practice of being a modern Shakespearean audience. It surveys some of the most influential ideas about spectatorship in contemporary performance studies, and analyses the strategies employed both in the texts themselves and by modern theatre practitioners to position audiences in particular w