The BBC Shakespeare plays : making the televised canon /

This compendium of information on the BBC Shakespeare plays will prove an attractive resource for teachers and students of Shakespeare, as well as for general readers who, like millions of others, invited Shakespeare into their living rooms between 1978 and 1985. The fact is that the 37-play series, though unevenly received, has become canonical, and Susan Willis's research provides helpful and fascinating background. Conversational in style, the book tracks the ambitious project from its conception in 1975 through its completion ten years later. Willis pays special attention to the series's three producers (Cedric Messina, Jonathan Miller, and Shaun Sutton) and to three of its directors, Elijah Moshinsky, Miller, and Jane Howell; to the ways in which the television medium shaped production; and to production style and exigencies. One part of the book provides on-site accounts of three of the plays in production: Troilus and Cressida, The Comedy of Errors, and Titus Andronicus. The book is generously illustrated and offers useful appendixes of taping and transmission dates and BBC Shakespeare productions prior to the series. Recommended for all libraries at all levels. J. Schlueter Lafayette College

The story behind the seven-year BBC project to create television versions of all 37 of Shakespeare's plays is potentially an engrossing and fascinating tale. Unfortunately, this is not it. The elements are here, and Willis does shine in certain chapters--especially those on the series' three most prolific directors: Jonathan Miller, Elijah Moshinsky, and Jane Howell--but others plod. There are so many names tossed around that one loses track of characters, actors, production people, directors, and critics (an appendix of full cast and crew for each play would have been helpful). Willis assumes a familiarity with Shakespeare that few readers have; even scholars might not recognize scenes from Henry VI, Part 2 cited solely by act and scene number. Likewise, familiarity with various modes of television production is not a requisite, but would make reading easier. For very large Shakespeare or television collections.-- Keith R.A. DeCandido, ``Library Journal'' (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.