Shakespeare and the Power of Performance

Robert Weimann is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Irvine. Douglas Bruster is Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin.

• Introduction; 1. 'Moralize two meanings' in one play: contrariety on the Tudor stage; 2. Performance, game, and representation in Richard III; 3. Mingling vice and 'worthiness' in King John; 4. Clowning: agencies between voice and pen; 5. Clowning at the frontiers of representation; 6. Cross-dressing and performance in disguise; 7. Personation and playing: 'secretly open' role-playing; 8. Character/actor: the deep matrix; 9. Character: depth, dialogue, page; 10. King Lear: representations on stage and page.

Review of the hardback: 'Learned, readable, and provocative, this extraordinary book brings the range and depth of Robert Weimann's and Douglas Bruster's rich knowledge of the early modern stage to bear on a theoretically engaging reading of the interplay between dramatic writing and stage performance.' W. B. Worthen, University of Michigan