San Antonio College Library

"An interest in actors and acting has been a common theme in Peter Thomson's published work on Shakespeare, Brecht and British theatre from the middle ages to the present. This collection of his essays on that theme are divided into three sections. The first centres on Elizabethan theatre practice; acting styles, the art of making an entrance on the open stage, rehearsal practices, the impact of the jig, and the peculiar histories of William Knell,...

"This unique study investigates the ways in which the staging convention of direct address - talking to the audience - constructs selfhood for Shakespeare's characters. By focusing specifically on the relationship between performer and audience, Talking to the Audience examines what happens when the audience finds itself in the presence of a dramatic figure who knows it is there. It is a book concerned with theatrical illusion and with the pleasures...