Much ado about nothing : a critical reader / edited by Deborah Cartmell and Peter J. Smith.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Cartmell, Deborah, editor.

Smith, Peter J., 1964- editor.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Arden early modern drama

Arden early modern drama guides

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Much ado about nothing.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Stage history.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Criticism and interpretation.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xv, 258 pages ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018.

Summary:

"This volume offers an accessible and thought-provoking guide to this major Shakespearean comedy, surveying its key themes and evolving critical preoccupations. It also provides a detailed and up-to-date history of the play's rich stage and screen performance, looking closely at major contemporary performances, including Josie Rourke's film starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate, Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones at the Old Vic, and the RSC's recent rebranding of it as a sequel. Moving through to four new critical essays, the guide opens up fresh perspectives, including contemporary directors' deployment of older actors within the lead roles, the play's relationship to Love's Labour's Lost, its presence on Youtube and the ways in which tales and ruses in the play belong to a wider concern with varieties of crime. The volume finishes with a guide to critical, web-based and production-related resources and an annotated bibliography provide a basis for further research"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Notes on contributors ; timeline ; Introduction / Deborah Cartmell and Peter J. Smith

The critical backstory / Alison Findlay

Performance history: landmarks, tendencies, outliers and recursions in the performance history of Much ado about nothing / Kathryn Prince

The state of the art / Elinor Parsons

New directions: letting wonder seem familiar? Italy and London in Much ado about nothing / Duncan Salkeld

New directions: Much ado: women (and men) of a certain age / Elizabeth Schafer and Sara Reimers

New directions: Much ado or Love's labour's won? Does it matter which? / Lois Potter

New directions: Much ado about nothing and social media / Christy Desmet

Resources: How apt it is to learn? Studying and teaching Much ado about nothing / Brett Greatley-Hirsch and Sarah Neville.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Much ado about nothing.

ISBN:

9781474284370

147428437X

OCLC:

990288965