Shakespeare Performance Studies

by W.B. Worthen

Taking a 'performance studies' perspective on Shakespearean theatre, W. B. Worthen argues that the theatrical event represents less an inquiry into the presumed meanings of the text than an effort to frame performance as a vehicle of cultural critique. Using contemporary performances as test cases, Worthen explores the interfaces between the origins of Shakespeare's writing as literature and as theatre, the modes of engagement with Shakespeare's plays for readers and spectators, and the function of changing performance technologies on our knowledge of Shakespeare. This book not only provides the material for performance analysis, but places important contemporary Shakespeare productions in dialogue with three influential areas of critical discourse: texts and authorship, the function of character in cognitive theatre studies, and the representation of theatre and performing in the digital humanities. This book will be vital reading for scholars and advanced students of Shakespeare and of Performance Studies.

Genres: Shakespeare

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

William B. Worthen has a Ph.D., English literature from the Princeton University and a B.A., summa cum laude, English literature from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
He has published a number of works with focus on: Drama and performance studies, Modern drama and performance, Shakespeare.
He has received numerous awards and grants.

Reviews

[Candy Wood]

Anyone wishing to write a book about Shakespeare performance studies would have to be both inspired and intimidated by Worthen’s book. Drawing on experiences of productions as well as extensive reading of print and digital sources, he demonstrates that there can still be valuable new ways to think about the plays in performance. But every paragraph engages with the old ways, not to mention ones still developing such as iPhone and iPad apps. Joining the conversation about Shakespeare seems to require several lifetimes of reading, listening, and viewing--and taking notes on all that. Worthen cautions that the digital humanities approach tends to represent stage performance as entirely text-based, conveying information coded in the script to passive spectators, and his examples show how an awareness of the spectator as active participant and of the distances between performance and text can be more productive. His discussion of Almereyda’s Hamlet film and its incorporation of already obsolete technology is especially interesting.