Under cover of being a rousing adventure story; Shakespeares Henry V manages to become something much more open and complex - a play whose possible meanings point in many directions; often all at once.In this Handbook; chapters on critical assessment and performance history take the reader in some of those many directions - from unproblematic reflection of an Elizabethan World Picture to cultural materialist reappraisal of how power works; and from Oliviers brilliant technicolor pageant to the National Theatres 2003 reengagement with the play at the start of the Iraq war. Focusing on stage directions; implied action in the dialogue; and various production choices available at key moments; a theatrically aware commentary encourages the imagining of a physical narrative where the plays meanings and our responses are shaped by the constantly shifting stage action.Multiple; competing voices and often daring structural choices make Henry V an invigorating occasion for theatre. With a fresh and engaging style; this Handbook explores all the spiky; disruptive and debatable aspects of a tale Shakespeare could have told in a simple; straightforward and heroic fashion; but chose not to.
2016-04-08 2016-04-08File Name: B01E03BPMO
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