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Shakespeare the Player: A Life in the Theatre
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Plot Summary of Shakespeare the Player: A Life in the Theatre
"This approach to writing about Shakespeare's life emphasizes the role and effects of his being an actor and writer among other actors, and writing for particular colleagues and the live stage. "Shakespeare the Player" discusses the companies for which Shakespeare wrote and acted, what English towns they toured to and when, the process of apprenticing actors in his time, how he may have rewritten and replotted his plays over time, and how the particular actors he had to work with might have influenced the stories Shakespeare chose to tell and the characters he decided to people them with.

The author is a longtime British stage actor trained at the Old Vic, so he is very familiar with the process of bringing Shakespeare's lines to life and mechanics of staging the plays. Photographs include not only images and places from Shakespeare's time, but productions in which the author worked and performed."

David Loftus, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Shakespeare the Player: A Life in the Theatre
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
job/profession: - actor/actress
Job/profession/poverty story Yes
Story of entertainer? - Director/Producer
Period of greatest activity? - ancient times

Subject of Biography
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - writer
Biography of famous person? Yes
Ethnicity - White
Nationality - British
How sensitive is this person? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other people

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 3 ()
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
City? Yes
City: - London

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Book makes you feel? - thoughtful
Writer's slant towards subject: - very favorable
Story of entire life, or part? - story of nearly entire life
Pictures/Illustrations? - A ton 16-20 B&W
How much dialogue in bio? - little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 51%-75% of book
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John Southworth Resident Scholar Profiles

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David Loftus  

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