Stephen Purcell

Sue (Suzanne Conway) and Stu (Stuart Jackson) live in the small city of Rockwood. They have never met, nor do they know of each other. Sue manages a hair salon and spends her days styling the 'who's who', while Stu manages a record store and typically deals with the 'who's not'. Though they've never met, Sue & Stu do share a common trait, they both keep a diary. A brief encounter between the two sends Stu on a search to find the mystery woman he believes is destined to become his future wife. Unbeknown to Stu, Sue is busy attempting to be her perfect self. She wants to find the man of her dreams, she wants to settle down, and while she may not admit it to herself or her friends, she's broody as hell for a baby. Sadly, she's not having much luck. All her encounters with men have been disastrous. Her mother is in her ear day-in and day-out and she is fearful of spending the rest of her life with her cat, Mr Snuggles. In a bizarre happenstance, Sue & Stu become an item. Now, their daily diary rants are on each other, not just obscure records and Sue's mother. Can Stu, the epitome of the 'man child' navigate what's to come? Or will his more recent past catch up to wreak havoc? And what about Sue? Is she ready to embrace this whirlwind situation? Is she capable of coping with Stu's antics or is she on course for another doomed relationship?

The White Devil is one of the great plays of the Jacobean era. In this vibrant Handbook, Stephen Purcell offers an in-depth, performance-focused exploration of John Webster's thrilling, unsettling and darkly comic tragedy. The Handbook includes:• a scene-by-scene commentary on the play as it unfolds on stage • an overview of the play's cultural context• excerpts from historical sources• case studies of four modern productions, featuring interviews with directors• an outline of key critical writings on the play, from the seventeenth century through to today.

Kathryn Hunter is one of the most distinctive performers on the modern stage. Her shapeshifting abilities have seen her play Shakespearean roles as diverse as King Lear, Richard III, Katharina, Cleopatra, Puck, and Timon of Athens. Her role as the witches in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth introduced her distinctive approach to Shakespeare to a wider audience, winning her the 2021 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also an accomplished Shakespearean director, having directed productions for theatres including Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company. This study situates her Shakespearean work within the context of her wider career, including her Olivier award-winning work with Complicite and her frequent collaborations with Peter Brook. It is based on a series of nine interviews with Hunter that were conducted over Zoom during the 2020 lockdown, and draws upon archival material from Shakespeare’s Globe, the RSC and elsewhere.

A history of Shakespeare’s play in performance, from John Dryden’s Restoration adaptation to the rediscovery of the play in the twentieth century. What made this play so relevant to audiences who had lived through the horrors of two world wars and the rise of fascism? Why did it speak so directly to the ‘angry young men’ of the post-war generation and to the countercultural movements of the 1960s? This book investigates the many ways in which modern directors and actors have found their own world reflected in the play, from anti-war protests and the sexual revolution to feminism and postcolonialism. In doing so, it explores the play’s own complexity and its refusal to give easy answers.

Shakespeare in the Theatre: Mark Rylance at the GlobeEach volume in the Shakespeare in the Theatre series focuses on a director or theatre company who has made a significant contribution to Shakespeare production, identifying the artistic and political/social contexts of their work. The series introduces readers to the work of significant theatre directors and companies whose Shakespeare productions have been transformative in our understanding of his plays in performance. Each volume examines a single figure or company, considering their key productions, rehearsal approaches and their work with other artists.Since its opening in the late 1990s, the reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre has made an indelible impression on the contemporary British theatre scene. This book explores the theatre’s first decade of productions under the pioneering leadership of Sir Mark Rylance. Drawing upon an extensive range of material from the theatre’s archive, interviews with Globe practitioners, and Rylance’s own personal archive, this book argues that the Rylance era was a ground-breaking and important period of recent theatre history. It concludes with an in-depth interview with Rylance himself. The book gives a unique insight into Rylance’s practice and impact, and will be of interest to anyone studying Shakespeare in performance.Stephen Purcell is Associate Professor of English at the University of Warwick. His research focuses on the performance of the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries on the modern stage and screen, and his publications include the books Popular Shakespeare and Shakespeare and Audience in Practice. He also directs for the open-air theatre company The Pantaloons.Series Editors: Bridget Escolme, Queen Mary University of London, UK, Peter Holland, University of Notre Dame, USA and Farah Karim-Cooper, Shakespeare’s Globe, London ,UK.

Shakespeare in the Theatre: Mark Rylance at the GlobeEach volume in the Shakespeare in the Theatre series focuses on a director or theatre company who has made a significant contribution to Shakespeare production, identifying the artistic and political/social contexts of their work. The series introduces readers to the work of significant theatre directors and companies whose Shakespeare productions have been transformative in our understanding of his plays in performance. Each volume examines a single figure or company, considering their key productions, rehearsal approaches and their work with other artists.Since its opening in the late 1990s, the reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre has made an indelible impression on the contemporary British theatre scene. This book explores the theatre’s first decade of productions under the pioneering leadership of Sir Mark Rylance. Drawing upon an extensive range of material from the theatre’s archive, interviews with Globe practitioners, and Rylance’s own personal archive, this book argues that the Rylance era was a ground-breaking and important period of recent theatre history. It concludes with an in-depth interview with Rylance himself. The book gives a unique insight into Rylance’s practice and impact, and will be of interest to anyone studying Shakespeare in performance.Stephen Purcell is Associate Professor of English at the University of Warwick. His research focuses on the performance of the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries on the modern stage and screen, and his publications include the books Popular Shakespeare and Shakespeare and Audience in Practice. He also directs for the open-air theatre company The Pantaloons.Series Editors: Bridget Escolme, Queen Mary University of London, UK, Peter Holland, University of Notre Dame, USA and Farah Karim-Cooper, Shakespeare’s Globe, London ,UK.

What do audiences do as they watch a Shakespearean play? What makes them respond in the ways that they do? This book examines a wide range of theatrical productions to explore the practice of being a modern Shakespearean audience. It surveys some of the most influential ideas about spectatorship in contemporary performance studies, and analyses the strategies employed both in the texts themselves and by modern theatre practitioners to position audiences in particular ways.

What do audiences do as they watch a Shakespearean play? What makes them respond in the ways that they do? This book examines a wide range of theatrical productions to explore the practice of being a modern Shakespearean audience. It surveys some of the most influential ideas about spectatorship in contemporary performance studies, and analyses the strategies employed both in the texts themselves and by modern theatre practitioners to position audiences in particular ways.