Review by Choice Review
Without an audience, there is no theater experience. This release in "The Arden Shakespeare" series looks at the audience as an essential and collaborative partner in the performance space of the theater. Using as examples British Shakespeare productions, the contributors offer perspectives on this unique actor-to-audience relationship. Banks explains that research in spectatorship has grown over the last 30 years, and has lead to a deeper engagement with Shakespeare's plays. Part 1 provides a theoretical framework, looking at the audience for Shakespeare over the past 400 years. Chapters look at, among other things, direct audience address in Hamlet and how architecture or place affects performance and spectatorship. Part 2 presents actors and audience "in their own words." UK-based productions of Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Twelfth Night reveal the linkages between audience influence and actor impact. For example, actor Juliet Stevenson explains how in a production of Hamlet at London's Almeida Theatre, the actor/characters sat in the audience during the famous play-within-a-play scene--an immersion that ignited audience and actors alike. Stevenson articulates how audience response altered actor rhythm and choice at each performance, creating a delicate relational, live experience. Illustrations, photographs, and notes are included. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. --Julie Artman, Chapman University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
