Foreign Shakespeare: Contemporary Performance

Shakespeare has long been considered the pre-eminent poet and dramatist of the English-speaking world. But although he is the most frequently performed playwright in the world, little attention has been paid to theatrical production of his plays outside the English language. This is the first collection to offer a considered account of contemporary Shakespeare performance in non-English-speaking theatres. Most of the essays focus on Europe, some on Asia. They investigate text and translation theory, the significance of the visual, acting, directing and audience culture, intercultural performance, political appropriation and dissent. Dennis Kennedy introduces the topic within the context of postwar performance, and his Afterword challenges Anglocentric standards of Shakespeare interpretation.

• This is the first English book devoted to non-English language productions of Shakespeare • Dennis Kennedy’s own book, Looking at Shakespeare, will have been published about 7 months prior to this one

List of illustrations; List of contributors; Preface; Introduction. Shakespeare without his language Dennis Kennedy; Part I. The Foreignness of Shakespeare: 1. Foreign Shakespeare and English-speaking audiences John Russell Brown; 2. Titus Resartus: Warner, Stein and Mesguich have a cut at Titus Andronicus Dominique Goy-Blanquet; 3. Transformations of authenticity: The Merchant of Venice in Israel Avraham Oz; 4. Translation and mise en scène: the example of contemporary French Shakespeare Leanore Lieblein; 5. Audience, style and language in the Shakespeare of Peter Zadek Ron Engle; Part II. Political and National Appropriations: 6. Brecht and beyond: Shakespeare on the East German stage Lawrence Guntner; 7. Theatrical continuities in Giorgio Strehler’s The Tempest Pia Kleber; 8. Between the curtain and the grave: The Taganka in the Hamlet Gulag Spencer Golub; 9. Woman scorned: Antony and Cleopatra at Moscow’s Vakhtangov Theatre Irena R. Makaryk; 10. Hamlet in postwar Czech theatre Jarka Burian; Part III. Postmodern Shakespeare: 11. Daniel Mesguich and intertextual Shakespeare Marvin Carlson; 12. Word into image: notes on the scenography of recent German productions Wilhelm Hortmann; 13. Shakespeare and the Japanese stage Andrea J. Nouryeh; 14. Wilson, Brook, Zadek: an intercultural encounter? Patrice Pavis; Afterword: Shakespearean Orientalism Dennis Kennedy; Index.