Written for performance, Shakespeare's plays are very different texts from any intended for a reader with book in hand and they require a different kind of attention. John Russell Brown's latest book attempts a description of Shakespeare's distinctive practice as a writer for the stage and, in doing so, suggests ways of responding to the plays which bring them alive in the mind as if in performance. It is a book for use, to quicken both eye and ear while reading the texts and to enliven almost any critical debate.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Theatre Words Speech and Action
Characters Interplay
Openness Happenings Meanings and Arguments
Index.