Shakespeare and the Spanish Comedia

Translation, Interpretation, Performance: Essays in Honor of Susan L. Fischer

Edited by Bárbara Mujica

Hardback - £98.00

Publication date:

03 October 2013

Length of book:

308 pages

Publisher

Bucknell University Press

Dimensions:

237x164mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781611485172

Shakespeare and the Spanish Comedia is a nearly unique transnational study of the theater / performance traditions of early modern Spain and England. Divided into three parts, the book focuses first on translating for the stage, examining diverse approaches to the topic. It asks, for example, whether plays should be translated to sound as if they were originally written in the target language or if their “foreignness” should be maintained and even highlighted. Section II deals with interpretation and considers such issues as uses of polyphony, the relationship between painting and theater, and representations of women. Section III highlights performance issues such as music in modern performances of classical theater and the construction of stage character. Written by a highly respected group of British and American scholars and theater practitioners, this book challenges the traditional divide between the academy and stage practitioners and between one theatrical culture and another.
This volume of insightful and intelligent essays should be on the reading list of any scholar of early modern European theater.