Playfulness in Shakespearean Adaptations

Four hundred years after William Shakespeares death, his works continue to not only fill playhouses around the world, but also be adapted in various forms for consumption in popular culture, including in film, television, comics and graphic novels, and digital media. Drawing on theories of play and adaptation, Playfulness in Shakespearean Adaptations demonstrates how the practices of Shakespearean adaptations are frequently products of playful, and sometimes irreverent, engagements that allow new Shakespeares to emerge, revealing Shakespeares ongoing impact in popular culture. Significantly, this collection explores the role of play in the construction of meaning in Shakespearean adaptationsadaptations of both the works of Shakespeare, and of Shakespeare the manand contributes to the growing scholarly interest in playfulness both past and present. The chapters in Playfulness in Shakespearean Adaptations engage with the diverse ways that play is used in Shakespearean adaptations on stage, screen, and page, examining how these adaptations draw out existing humour in Shakespeares works, the ways that play is used as a pedagogical aid to help explain complex language, themes, and emotions found in Shakespeares works, and more generally how play and playfulness can make Shakespeare relatable, relevant, and entertaining for successive generations of audiences and readers.