Going to Shakespeare

An increasing number of playgoers want to know what to look for when they go to the theatre: the people of the plays, notable passages, new and traditional business, cuts, debateable points. How will Macbeth say 'Hang out our banners on the outward walls'? Will Beatrice and Benedick avoid the laugh on 'Kill Claudio'? Who is Euphronius? J. C. Trewin, who saw some 1,500 performances of Shakespeare, talks of these things and many others in what he calls a discursive notebook. He treats the plays one by one in a delightfully readable style which belies the underlying learning and experience on which he draws. Here is an ideal introduction to the staging of Shakespeare not only for the student, but for all those who enjoy going to Shakespeare.