Man of the Millennium' he may be but William Shakespeare is a shadowy historical figures. His writings have been analysed exhaustively but much of his life remains a mystery. This controversial biography aims to redress the balance. To his contemporaries, Shakespeare was known not as a playwright but as an actor, yet this has been largely ignored or marginalised by most modern writers. here John Southworth overturns traditional images of the Bard and his work, arguing that Shakespeare cannot be separated from his profession as a player any more than he can be separated from his works. Only by approaching Shakespeare's life from this new angle can we hope to learn or understand anything new about him. Following Shakespeare's life as an actor as he learns his craft and begins work on his own plays, Southworth presents the Bard and his plays in their proper context for the first time. Groundbreaking, contentious and a work of deep scholarship and understanding, 'Shakespeare the Player' should change the way we think about the English language's greatest artist.

Shakespeare's plays departed completely from the rules of classical drama. They spanned too much time, had too many settings, and combined humor with tragedy.

This volume provides a "much-needed" view of Shakespeare as a playwright, player, and shareholder in a popular theater, revealing how each of these roles influenced the others. The author gives valuable insight into the actor's craft and creates plausible arguments for how specific plays would have been performed and which roles Shakespeare himself may have played. While many academics have seen Shakespeare's career as an actor as a short aberration or an embarrassment, this author glories in the power and vitality of the Elizabethan stage, showing how the theater influenced the structure, subject, and construction of Shakespeare's plays. This work gives the reader a greater understanding of the plays as dramatic productions intended to be seen and heard rather than simply as literary works to be read.

Twelve actors describe their preparation for and performance of a Shakespearean role with the Royal Shakespeare Company. The result is an account of the instability of the actor's art as well of his professional discipline.