Looking at Shakespeare : A Visual History of Twentieth-Century Performance

Rating:
Summary: A vivid and resounding study
Review: I stayed up all night reading Kennedy's smooth prose, which echoes like a clean white room. I was recommended this book by a professor who thought it would complement my graduate seminar on performance. That it does, indeed--and what's more, I strongly believe this work should be madatory for every undergrad Shakespeare course. It is breaks through the notions of Shakespeare on the stage as a merely western, standardized phenomenon, shaking up the image of the auld bard in a delightful manner. The images are especially astounding; I only wish I could have seen some of the wild international productions that Kennedy discusses here!