The Henry VI plays (Shakespeare in Performance) - Softcover

Hampton-Reeves, Stuart; Rutter, Carol Chillington

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0719080932 ISBN 13: 9780719080937

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2009

Synopsis

The Henry VI plays are exciting, dark plays. In their day, they were among Shakespeare's most popular works, but they fell out of fashion - until the twentieth century, when the theatre rediscovered the plays' potency and their uncanny resonance with contemporary issues. In a story which stretches over thirty years, Shakespeare dramatises the fall of the House of Lancaster and creates some of his most compelling characters, among them the Queen Margaret and the wildly ambitious Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III). With these plays, Shakespeare shows 'England bleeding'. This book, the first major study of the Henry VI plays in performance, focuses on the cultural context of modern British productions which have explored Shakespeare's troubling depiction of England in crisis. Chapters are devoted to full-length studies of the following productions: the Birmingham Rep's, staged during the Festival of Britain; Peter Hall and John Barton's landmark The Wars of the Roses; Terry Hands' Folio-text trilogy; Michael Bogdanov's 'punk' Shakespeare; Adrian Noble's dazzling The Plantagenets; Katie Mitchell's Bosnian Henry VI: Part Three; and Michael Boyd's award-winning cycle for the RSC. The plays have also been televised several times and we look at the rarely-seen series An Age of Kings and Jane Howell's celebrated productions for the BBC.

About this title

About the Authors

Stuart Hampton-Reeves is Principal Lecturer in English and Drama at the University of Central Lancashire

Carol Chillington Rutter is Professor of English at the University of Warwick

From the Back Cover

The Henry VI plays are Shakespeare's earliest, most theatrically exciting plays and in their day, they were among his most popular works. In a story which stretches over thirty years, Shakespeare dramatises the fall of the House of Lancaster and creates some of his most compelling characters, among them the Queen Margaret and the wildly ambitious Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III).

Modern productions have become landmark works that have defined institutions such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the English Shakespeare Company. This book, the first major study of the Henry VI plays in performance, focuses on the cultural context of modern British productions on stage and screen which have explored Shakespeare's troubling depiction of England in crisis and related those themes to contemporaneous questions of national identity.

From the Inside Flap

The Henry VI plays are Shakespeare s earliest, most theatrically exciting plays and in their day, they were among his most popular works. In a story which stretches over thirty years, Shakespeare dramatises the fall of the House of Lancaster and creates some of his most compelling characters, among them the Queen Margaret and the wildly ambitious Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III). Modern productions have become landmark works that have defined institutions such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the English Shakespeare Company. This book, the first major study of the Henry VI plays in performance, focuses on the cultural context of modern British productions on stage and screen which have explored Shakespeare s troubling depiction of England in crisis and related those themes to contemporaneous questions of national identity.

Edition details

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0719080932
• ISBN 13: 9780719080937
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224