<i>Creating Space for Shakespeare</i> offers a vivid, clear-sighted, praxis-oriented account of what has been termed 'applied Shakespeare' - projects which harness the Shakespeare canon and its cultural capital to a range of benign social purposes. While some Shakespearean scholars limit themselves to trying to speak with the dead, Mackenzie shows how the plays can enable us to speak with hitherto excluded categories of the living.
Michael Dobson, Shakespeare Institute, UK
What place can Shakespeare have for the most vulnerable sections of our society? If your answer is that he stands only for an imposed high culture, Rowan Mackenzie’s remarkable and deeply moving account of the part his plays can occupy in a wide range of kinds of marginalized communities will make you think again. This compassionate survey of her own work and that of many others redefines what Shakespeare means in 21st century Britain.
Peter Holland, University of Notre Dame, USA
Rowan Mackenzie has written a remarkable book, made even more so by her thorough academic research combined with an accessible approach. We are taken on a creative journey through several prison institutions, each unique in their own way, as are the inhabitants, individuals who embark on their own creative journey. Too often attitudes prevail that such populations do not deserve Shakespeare, let alone drama. However the drama holds the very key to change, and Shakespeare a very specific form of drama to facilitate this change. The hard hitting challenges and the profound insights are all the result of applied Shakespeare. Rowan writes with understanding and compassion and her love of her work is constantly demonstrated. We are there in the workshop or performance, witnessing these remarkable events! This book should be read by dramatherapists and all arts and creative arts therapists, educators and clinicians who work in associated forensic fields. Ideally it should be recommended as a model for both practice and research, in prevention as well as rehabilitation. It is a gem of a book!
Sue Jennings, Visiting Professor of Arts Therapies, University of Derby, UK