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Series:   Elements in Shakespeare Performance

Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2025

Katherine Steele Brokaw  and
Elizabeth Freestone
Katherine Steele Brokaw
Affiliation:
University of California, Merced
Elizabeth Freestone
Affiliation:
Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham

Summary

Given the many environmental crises facing the planet, we need to use all tools to address them, including Shakespearean theatre. This Element explains why Shakespeare is well-positioned to be an eco-playwright, how theatre-makers can adapt his plays to matter now, and how to make more ecological the many processes of Shakespearean theatre, from set design to performing outdoors. The co-authors are both directors, and conversations between them about their recent eco-productions of The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company and A Midsummer Night's Dream for Shakespeare in Yosemite (California) give clear examples of both the why and how of eco-theatrical Shakespeare.
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Keywords

ShakespeareEco-TheatreTheatreShakespearean PerformanceEnvironmental Humanities

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Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Shakespeare Performance
Online ISBN: 9781009569613
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 24 July 2025

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