At some point, I'd like to do a "Book Note" post on each of the complete Shakespeares I have. But that time hasn't arrived yet—though I do have a post on the New Cambridge complete works (for which, q.v.).
But I do want to talk about the Royal Shakespeare Company complete Shakespeare, mainly because it provides something other complete works lack: Devoted attention to historic performance of the plays.
By that, I don't mean the survey provided in every Arden single edition. In this volume, we learn what the RSC has done with key lines and scenes throughout its history.
First, true to much modern acting practice, the RSC complete works uses the First Folio as its starting point. Here's what the General Introduction has to say about that (on page 51):
Second, the preface notes that the first edition provided a distinction between stage directions specifically given in the First Folio and those that can be deduced from the text—something of an innovation in that edition. About this, the preface says "The idea was to allow readers to construct an imaginary performance in their head" (13). But this second edition has "replaced these platonic performances with a hundred actual ones" (13).
Third, let me provide Act III, scene i of Hamlet (and the "Key Facts" section on that play) by way of example. For this play, three productions (P for production) are referenced: P1 = 2008 with Gregory Doran as director (the Stewart / Tennant Hamlet), P2 = The 2013 Hamlet directed by David Farr, P3 = Simon Godwin's 2016 production.
And that's just a sample of the richness that can be gleaned by considering how past directors and actors have staged the text.
The Royal Shakespeare Company edition of Shakespeare's complete works is ideal for the scholar who is interested in performance, for the actor or director who wants to explore the imaginative range of past productions, and for the student who gravitates more toward practical explanation than scholarly footnotes.
Click below to purchase the book from amazon.com
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
