ABSTRACT

In Imaginary Performances in Shakespeare, visionary modernist theatre director Aureliu Manea analyses the theatrical possibilities of Shakespeare. Through nineteen Shakespeare plays, Manea sketches the intellectual parameters, the visual languages, and the emotional worlds of imagined stage interpretations of each; these nineteen short essays are appended by his essay ‘Confessions,’ an autobiographical meditation on the nature of theatre and the role of the director. This captivating book which will be attractive to anyone interested in Shakespeare and modern theatre.

part one|66 pages

Imaginary performances

chapter 1|4 pages

Richard II, or the revelation of failure

chapter 4|3 pages

The utopia of discontent. As You Like It

chapter 5|3 pages

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

chapter 6|3 pages

The comedy of history. Julius Caesar

chapter 7|3 pages

Much Ado About Nothing

chapter 9|3 pages

Love’s Labour’s Lost

chapter 11|3 pages

Love and mediocrity. Romeo and Juliet

chapter 15|3 pages

Poetry and murder. Titus Andronicus

chapter 16|3 pages

The city’s misfortune. Twelfth Night

chapter 17|3 pages

The wretchedness of psychology. Othello

chapter 18|3 pages

The servants of night. Macbeth

chapter 19|5 pages

Hamlet

part two|34 pages

Confessions

chapter 20|28 pages

Confessions

chapter 21|1 pages

Conclusion

chapter |3 pages

Aureliu Manea, 1945–2014