Popular Shakespeare
Subtitle: simulation and subversion on the modern stage
By: Stephen Purcell.
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; Springer
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 271
ISBN-13: 9780230577039
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Adaptations -- History and criticism; Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Dramatic production; Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Appreciation -- Great Britain
Genres: Adaptations
Description: "In recent years, the 'Popular Shakespeare' phenomenon has become ever more pervasive: whether in fringe productions, mainstream theatre, or the mass media, Shakespeare is increasingly constructed as an authentic part of popular culture." "Naturally, these attempts to bring one of the most iconic symbols of high art into the realm of the popular have their problems. 'Popular Shakespeares' will frequently attempt to re-write the past or ignore cultural difference, postulating a universal appeal which transcends the barriers of class, nationality, and even history. Others, however, will poke fun at Shakespeare's cultural authority, parodying and appropriating the texts in a more subversive fashion. Very often, these contradictory attitudes will be found existing side-by-side and inconsistently within one piece of work." "A vivid and wide-ranging account of Shakespearean performance in Britain since the 1990s, this book examines an interrelated set of shifts in what the name 'Shakespeare' means to us today."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.