Screening the Royal Shakespeare Company: A Critical History

(Hardback)

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Description

No theatre company has been involved in such a broad range of adaptations for television and cinema as the Royal Shakespeare Company. Starting with Richard III filmed in the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre before World War One, the RSCs accomplishments continue today with highly successful live cinema broadcasts. The Wars of the Roses (BBC, 1965), Peter Brooks film of King Lear (1971), Channel 4s epic version of Nicholas Nickleby (1982) and Hamlet with David Tennant (BBC, 2009) are among their most iconic adaptations. Many other RSC productions live on as extracts in documentaries, as archival recordings, in trailers and in other fragmentary forms. Screening the Royal Shakespeare Company explores this remarkable history of collaborations between stage and screen and considers key questions about adaptation that concern all those involved in theatre, film and television. John Wyver is a broadcasting historian and the producer of RSC Live from Stratford-upon-Avon, and is uniquely well-placed to provide a vivid account of the companys television and film productions. He contributes an award-winning practitioners insight into screen adaptations numerous challenges and rich potential.

Reviews

One of the most significant achievements of this book is Wyver's scrupulously thorough investigation ... [A] meticulously researched, amply documented and wonderfully wide-ranging study. * Times Literary Supplement *
A treasure trove of information This well-written book will be a basis for further research and a standard for the interaction between RSC and the screen. It is one of those books that you read and think: yes, about time. * Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance *
This is a book full of facts and informed judgements, and that makes Screening the Royal Shakespeare Company: A Critical History by far one of the most useful scholarly books I have read in some time. Now I want to catch up with John Wyvers past work. * The Shakespeare Newsletter *
Remarkable ... A narrative that dramatically (the pun is deliberate) transforms our knowledge and understanding of the filming of theatre and of the particularly complex and varied negotiations between theatre productions on the one hand and the film and television media on the other...It will take us all a long time to catch up with the riches of what Wyver has accomplished here but we will find the journey exhilarating and profoundly rewarding. * Theatre Notebook *
Provides an insiders look at how the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has navigated the often-turbulent world of broadcasting productions of Shakespeare. He provides a historical account of the recording and broadcasting of productions by the RSC that covers ten decades Though one can find myriad resources on the adaptation of Shakespeare to film, Wyver focuses specifically on how the RSC adapts live Shakespearean productions for television and film; he keeps in mind both the integrity of the stage and an audiences expectation of more than a static, single camera recording. Thus the volume is an important contribution to adaptation studies. Summing Up: Recommended * CHOICE *
The RSCs relationship with screen media is a topic that has long needed its history written, and Wyver is the ideal writer for the task. Lucidly marshalling a wealth of research, including exciting new discoveries, this book comprehensively chronicles the companys complex interactions with broadcasters and filmmakers from the 1950s to the present day. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in Shakespeare on stage and on screen. -- Susanne Greenhalgh, University of Roehampton, UK
A careful, richly detailed and painstaking work of history... a huge achievement of patient archival research and practical industry knowledge, which will become a standard reference work for those of us toiling in this area -- Peter Kirwan, University of Nottingham, UK

Author Bio

John Wyver is an independent scholar and a writer and producer and Director, Screen Productions at the Royal Shakespeare Company.