The Tempest (The RSC Shakespeare) Book

From the Royal Shakespeare Company – a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare’s magical vision. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of The Tempest in performance, takes a detailed look at specific productions, and recommends film versions. Included in this edition are three interviews with leading directors – Peter Brook, Sam Mendes and Rupert Goold – providing an illuminating insight into the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible. This edition also includes an essay on Shakespeare’s career and Elizabethan theatre, and enables the reader to understand the play as it was originally intended – as living theatre to be enjoyed and performed. Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare editions offer a fresh, accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare’s works for the twenty-first century.

This is the first edition of "The Tempest" to be developed by and for the RSC, the world's leading Shakespeare theatre company and it includes unique material to help the reader understand and enjoy Shakespeare on the stage as well as on the page. It is illustrated with photographs of classic and unusual performances. It includes outstanding on-page notes which explain words and phrases unfamiliar to a modern audience, including the slang, political references and bawdy humour often ignored or censored in competing editions. It includes scene-by-scene summary, offering an easily understandable way into the play. It offers completely new introduction by Jonathan Bate, exploring the text and critical debates around it. It provides summary of the play's performance history at the RSC and elsewhere. It includes interviews with important Shakespearean directors Peter Brook, Sam Mendes and Rupert Goold discussing key productions at the RSC.Developed by and for the Royal Shakespeare Company, this new edition includes outstanding on-page notes, a comprehensive scene-by-scene summary, a new introduction from Jonathan Bate and interviews with celebrated directors Peter Brook, Sam Mendes and Rupert Goold, offering illuminating new angles on Shakespeare's magical vision.