Much Ado About Nothing shows the violence of desire as well as its drive towards creative plotting or matchmaking. In this Handbook; Alison Findlay examines the plays comic and tragic potential in the theatre; its attempts to harmonise love and war; attraction and repulsion. The volume:* explores the plays resonance in early performances with reference to the crisis over fast-changing fashions; gendered notions of honour; and the changing personnel of Shakespeares company * analyses the play from a performance point of view scene by scene; considering the interactions between spectators and actors * surveys key productions and films; including Barry Jacksons radical modernist production of 1919; the recently-rediscovered television film of Zeffirellis 1965 National Theatre Production; and Kenneth Branaghs 1993 film version * outlines the plays critical history from the eighteenth century to the present day; with a focus on contemporary concerns such as genre hybridity; sources and intertexts; and the instability of signs and appearances.
#1556706 in eBooks 2013-09-05 2013-09-05File Name: B00F2H3ERW
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Disappointing....Its really just the libretto and a few pictures!By J KThe quality of the actual book itself is excellent. It is printed on good paper and the array of photos from different Metropolitan Opera productions of Le nozze di Figaro provides some nice visuals.Overall; though; I found the book disappointing. (This will apparently be true of all the books in this series. I purchased this and Boheme; so my reviews are pretty much the same for both.) Despite the title "Libretto; Background; and Photos" the background is rather sparse. (Only 12 pages; including the plot summary!). While I completely understand that this is not intended as an "academic book" I still thought that background/analysis could have been more substantial; without burying the reader in music theory; etc. Essentially; the book is mostly the libretto -- in Italian; followed by a literal word-for-word English translation in the original word order of the Italian; followed by a more "comprehensible" version (as needed).For example:page 54; Act IBasilio(maliziosamente)(maliciously)Siamo qui per aituarvia; egrave; sicuro il vostro onor.Were here to help you; is safe your honor.(Were here to help you; your honor is safe with me.)Frankly; that type of translation seems like it would be more useful in a score to a newer singer maybe not fluent in Italian who wants to know which word might be better to emphasize in performance. If you are just reading the libretto go get the "gist" (or maybe following along while listening) that is rather distracting!Frankly; the Metropolitan Opera Classics Library was a better; more interesting idea. For instance; the MET did one for La Boheme and La Traviata (but as far as I can tell; never for Figaro).But the La Boheme edition:Giacomo PucciniLa BohemeISBN: 0-316-56839-2was a better buy. The version had notes that included all the MET La Boheme performances/casts to date (at time of printing); a discography (at time of printing); a less distracting libretto format; color photos from the classic Zeffirelli production; a 27 page intro; a 25 page summary (with some light analysis); and a 35 page novelization/adaptation/much-condensed of the original novel by Henri Murger.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. HUGE TIME SAVER!By MezzoramaA godsend when preparing a role! Of course; Im translating my own text; but I dont have the time to translate everyone elses and its good to know what people are saying to me!!