Shakespeare Broadcasts and the Question of Value

List of contents

Introduction: 'This Goodly Frame'; 1. Young and free: The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2014); 2. Alt-Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus (2017); 3. Fictions of composition: The Merry Wives of Windsor (2018); 4. Conclusion: 'What is aught, but as 'tis valued?'; Appendix: The Two Gentlemen of Verona Broadcast Transcript; Bibliography.

Summary

This Element investigates the framing 'texts' of Shakespeare's works in live theatre broadcasts produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Despite growing engagement from scholars of digital Shakespeares with the phenomenon of broadcast theatre and the aesthetics of filmed productions, the paratexts which accompany the live-streams − live or pre-recorded features, including interviews and short films − have largely been ignored. The Element considers how RSC live broadcasts of rarely performed, often critically maligned works are mediated for contemporary audiences, focusing on The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2014), Titus Andronicus (2017), and The Merry Wives of Windsor (2018). It questions the role of the theatre institution as a powerful broker in the (re)negotiation of hierarchies of value within Shakespeare's canon. Individual sections also trace the longer genealogies of paratextual value-narratives in print, proposing that broadcast paratexts be understood as participating in a broader history of Shakespearean paratexts in print and performance.

Foreword

This Element examines how Shakespeare's works are framed for modern audiences and influenced by historical value narratives.

Product details

• Authors: Beth Sharrock, Beth (University of Warwick) Sharrock
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.03.2025
• EAN: 9781009418003
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0941800-3
• No. of pages: 104
• Series: Elements in Shakespeare and Text
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > Other languages / Other literatures; Films, cinema, Theatre Studies, Literary studies: plays & playwrights, Shakespeare Studies & Criticism, Literary studies: plays and playwrights, Relating to Shakespeare / Shakespearean