Hamlet

From the Royal Shakespeare Company a fresh new edition of Shakespeare's most celebrated play.

This book includes:

* An introduction to Hamlet by award-winning scholar Jonathan Bate
* The play with clear explanatory notes on each page
* A scene-by-scene analysis
* An introduction to Shakespeare's career and the Elizabethan theatre
* A rich exploration of approaches to staging Hamlet

The most enjoyable way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or participate in it. This book presents a historical overview of Hamlet in performance, recommends film versions, takes a detailed look at specific productions and includes interviews with three leading Directors Michael Boyd, Ron Daniels and John Caird so that we may get a sense of the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible - a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made our contemporary' four centuries after his death.

Contents
Introduction to the Play
Introduction to the Text
Key Facts
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Textual Notes
Second Quarto passages that do not appear in the Folio
Scene-by-scene Analysis
Hamlet in Performance: the RSC and Beyond
Four Centuries of Hamlet: An Overview
At the RSC
The Director's Cut: interviews with Michael Boyd, John Caird, Ron Daniels
Shakespeare's Career in the Theatre
Shakespeare's Works: a Chronology
Further Reading and Viewing
Acknowledgements and Picture Credits