Shakespeare and Brecht: A Practical Guide for Actors, Directors, Students and Teachers

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This practical guide uncovers the roots of Brechts lifelong obsession with Shakespeare and makes the case for reading the two together today. By connecting these two great playwrights, Stephen Unwin imagines new possibilities for Brechtian productions of Shakespeare and outlines practical suggestions for how to stage such productions.

Drawing on directing and performance experience in over 60 productions, Unwins knowledge of Brecht provides students, teachers, and practitioners with practical exercises for use in the classroom and rehearsal room. The book charts a chronology of Brechts engagement with Shakespeare before delving into his core theories and practices which detail a Brechtian approach to reading, performing and staging Shakespeare that is still pertinent today. Unwin also provides an in-depth look at five of Shakespeares plays through Brechts own words and imagines a Brechtian staging for them. In simple, non-theoretical language Shakespeare and Brecht reveals how Brecht can help us understand Shakespeare, but also how an understanding of Shakespeare can help explain Brecht for a new chapter of Brechtian Shakespeare in the 21st century.

Author Bio

Stephen Unwin is a theatre and opera director who founded the English Touring Theatre in 1993 and opened the Rose Theatre, Kingston in 2008. He has staged over sixty professional productions, ten of which were plays by Shakespeare and three by Brecht.