Shakespearean Biofiction on the Contemporary Stage and Screen
Produktdetaljer
Biographical note
Edel Semple is Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at University College Cork, Ireland.
Ronan Hatfull is Lecturer and Senior Associate Tutor in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Warwick, UK.
In a post-Barthesian/Foucauldian world, the Author remains a figure of desire for many critics, writers, actors and other artists. The Shakespeares – including Anne, Hamnet and Susanna as well as William – are multifaceted fictional characters in their own right, embodying complex ideas about family, identity, art, business and more. <i>Shakespearean Biofiction on the Contemporary Stage and Screen</i> is an indispensable guide to the rich world of Shakespeare-adjacent fictions, bringing together academics and artists to explain – and trouble – the irresistible appeal of Shakespeare’s gappy biography and the diverse ways in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries are deployed to speak to today’s concerns.
Peter Kirwan, Mary Baldwin University, USA
This volume is a window to the creative, critical and cross-media possibilities of biofiction. It places scholarly work in productive conversation with insights from practitioners to illuminate Shakespeare's cultural afterlife. Meanwhile, attention to Shakespeare's social and professional circles broadens the reach of this important contribution to Shakespeare and adaptation studies, and allow it to enter a larger, timely discussion of the myth of the singular (male) creative genius.
Anna Blackwell, University of Nottingham, UK
This book is the first edited collection to explore Shakespeare’s life as depicted on the modern stage and screen. Focusing on the years 1998-2023, it uniquely identifies a 25-year trend for depicting Shakespeare, his family and his social circle in theatre, film and television.
Interrogating Shakespeare’s afterlife across stage and screen media, the volume explores continuities and changes in the form since the release of Shakespeare in Love, which it positions as the progenitor of recent Shakespearean biofictions in Anglo-American culture. It traces these developments through the 21st century, from pivotal moments such as the Shakespeare 400 celebrations in 2016, up to the quatercentenary of the publication of the First Folio, whose portrait helped make the author a globally recognisable icon. The collection takes account of recent Anglo-American socio-political, cultural and literary concerns including feminism, digital media and the biopic and superhero genres.
The wide variety of works discussed range from All is True and Hamnet to Upstart Crow, Bill and even The Lego Movie. Offering insights from actors, dramatists and literary and performance scholars, it considers why artists are drawn to Shakespeare as a character and how theatre and screen media mediate his status as literary genius.
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Note on the Text
Introduction: Shakespeare and his Social Circle on the Stage and Screen, 1998-2023, Edel Semple (University College Cork, Ireland)
Part One: Author
1. Shakespeare Regrets: Redefining the Heritage Biopic in All Is True, Clara Calvo (University of Murcia, Spain)
2. ‘I’ll Drown my Book’: Imagining Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play, Austin Tichenor (Reduced Shakespeare Company, USA)
3. ‘Scarce…a Blot in his Papers’: Shakespearean Inspiration on Screen, Judith Buchanan (University of Oxford, UK)
4. Interview on Co-writing and Performing in Bill (dir. Richard Bracewell, 2015), Laurence Rickard (BAFTA-winning comedy writer and actor) in conversation with Ronan Hatfull and Edel Semple
5. ‘The Thing is, You’re a Douche’: Fourth Wave Feminist Representations of Shakespeare in Emilia and & Juliet, Gemma Allred (University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland)
Part Two: Family
6. Shakespeare’s Dead, Long Live his Widow! One-woman Plays about Anne Hathaway, Edel Semple (University College Cork, Ireland)
7. Interview on Playing Sue Shakespeare in Upstart Crow (BBC, 2016-2021), Helen Monks (writer, actor, and comedian) in conversation with Ronan Hatfull and Edel Semple
8. Father Shakespeare: Grieving for Hamnet on Stage and Screen, Katherine Scheil (University of Minnesota, USA)
9. Shakespeare and Son in All Is True and O’Farrell’s Hamnet, Paul Franssen (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
10. Interview on Writing the Play Shakespeare’s Sister (2015), Emma Whipday (Newcastle University, UK; playwright) in conversation with Ronan Hatfull and Edel Semple
Part Three: Theatre
11. Imagining the Formative Presence of Early Modern Women in Shakespeare’s Circle, Naomi J. Miller (Smith College, USA)
12. ‘That’s Power’: Representations of Performance in Shakespearean Biofiction, Stephen Purcell (University of Warwick, UK)
13. Reverse Engineering Shakespeare: TNT’s Will as Repertory Studies Criticism, Aaron Proudfoot (University of Connecticut, USA)
14. Enter Burbage: The Origin Story of an Acting Superhero in Craig Pearce’s Will, Michael D. Friedman (University of Scranton, USA)
15. #Sharlowe: Connecting Shakespeare and Marlowe in Only Lovers Left Alive, Upstart Crow, and Will, Ronan Hatfull (University of Warwick, UK)
Part Four: Afterlives
16. More ‘Shakespeare’ than Shakespeare: The Notion of ‘Uber-Shakespeare’ in The Lego Movie
Benjamin Broadribb (The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, UK)
Afterword: Global Shakespearean Biofictions
Ramona Wray (Queen's University Belfast, UK)
Index
Shakespeare and Adaptation provides in-depth discussions of a dynamic field and showcases the ways in which, with each act of adaptation, a new Shakespeare is generated. The series addresses the phenomenon of Shakespeare and adaptation in all of its guises and explores how Shakespeare continues as a reference-point in a generically diverse body of representations and forms, including fiction, film, drama, theatre, performance and mass media. Including both sole authored books as well as edited collections, the series embraces a mix of methodologies and espouses a global perspective that brings into conversation adaptations from different nations, languages and cultures.
Advisory Board:
Professor Ariane M. Balizet (Texas Christian University, USA)
Professor Sarah Hatchuel (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, 3, France)
Professor Peter Kirwan (Mary Baldwin University, USA)
Professor Douglas Lanier (University of New Hampshire, USA)
Professor Adele Lee (Emerson College, USA)
Professor Joyce Green MacDonald (University of Kentucky, USA)
Dr Stephen O’Neill (Maynooth University, Ireland)
Professor Shormishtha Panja (University of Delhi, India)
Professor Lisa Starks (University of South Florida)
Professor Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, France)
Professor Sandra Young (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Produktdetaljer
Biographical note
Edel Semple is Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at University College Cork, Ireland.
Ronan Hatfull is Lecturer and Senior Associate Tutor in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Warwick, UK.