ABSTRACT

What does it mean to study Shakespeare within a multicultural society? And who has the power to transform Shakespeare?

The Diverse Bard explores how Shakespeare has been adapted by artists born on the margins of the Empire, and how actors of Asian and African-Caribbean origin are being cast by white mainstream directors. It examines how notions of 'race' define the contemporary British experience, including the demands of traditional theatre, and it looks at both the playtexts themselves and contemporary productions.

Editor Delia Jarrett-Macauley assembles a stunning collection of classic texts and new scholarship by leading critics and practitioners, to provide the first comprehensive critical and practical analysis of this field.

part |72 pages

The diverse Bard on stage

chapter |15 pages

‘Why then the world's mine oyster/Which I with sword will open'

Africa, diaspora, Shakespeare: cross-cultural encounters on the global stage

chapter |16 pages

Will we ever have a black Desdemona?

Casting Josette Simon at the Royal Shakespeare Company

chapter |14 pages

Much Ado About Knotting

Arranged marriages in British-Asian Shakespeare productions

chapter |12 pages

David Thacker and Bill Alexander

Mainstream directors and the development of multicultural Shakespeare 1

chapter |13 pages

The black body and Shakespeare

Conversations with black actors

part |25 pages

The creative professionals

chapter |8 pages

Dancing since strapped to their mothers' backs

Movement directing on the Royal Shakespeare Company's African Julius Caesar

part |23 pages

Changing spaces, changing minds

chapter |12 pages

Souks, saris and Shakespeare

Engaging young, diverse audiences at Shakespeare's Globe and the National Theatre

chapter |9 pages

Brave new Bard

Shakespeare and intersectional feminism in the British classroom