Arden Shakespeare Stage Directions and Shakespearean Theatre

What do 'stage directions' do in early modern drama? Who or what are they directing: action on the stage, or imagination via the page? Is the label 'stage direction' helpful or misleading? Do these 'directions' provide evidence of Renaissance playhouse practice? What happens when we put them at the centre of literary close readings of early modern plays? Stage Directions and Shakespearean Theatre investigates these problems through innovative research by a range of international experts. This collection of essays examines the creative possibilities of stage directions and and their implications for actors and audiences, readers and editors, historians and contemporary critics. Looking at the different ways stage directions make meaning, this volume provides new insights into a range of Renaissance plays. Acknowledgements; Note on the Text; List of Contributors; Introduction; Part One: Taxonomy 1. Inventing Stage Directions;Demoting Dumb Shows by Tiffany Stern, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. 2. The Boundaries of Stage Directions by Laurie Maguire, Oxford University, UK. 3. Peter falls into the hole': Nonce Stage Directions and the Idea of the Dictionary by Paul Menzer, Mary Baldwin University, USA; and Jess Hamlet, University of Alabama, USA. Part Two: Text 4. Reading Shakespeare's Stage Directions by Emma Smith, Hertford College, Oxford, UK. 5. Shakespeare's Literary Stage Directions by Douglas Bruster, University of Texas, USA. Part Three: Editing 6. When is a Missing Stage Direction Missing? Suzanne Gossett; 7. Editing and Directing: Mise en scene, mise en page by Terri Bourus, Florida State University, USA. Part Four: Space 8. 'By indirections find directions out': Unpicking Early Modern Stage Directions by Martin White, University of Bristol, UK. 9. 'Strikes open a curtain where appears a body': Discovering Death in Stage Directions by Sarah Dustagheer, University of Kent, UK; with Philip Bird, actor, director and playwright, UK. Part Five: Plays 10. Enter Macduffe, with Macbeths head': Shakespeare's Macbeth and the Staging of Trauma by Andrew Hiscock, Bangor University, UK. 11. '(From the Dutchesse Grave)': Echoic Liminalities in The Duchess of Malfi by Sarah Lewis, King's College London, UK. 12. Understanding Dumb Shows and Interpreting The White Devil by Gillian Woods, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. Notes; Critical Bibliography; Index;