ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book focuses on the more traditional elements of text analysis and examines the words on the pages of Romeo and Juliet. It also examines Macbeth and the elements of Shakespeare's dramaturgy that confront us when his plays are put on their feet. The book addresses the practitioners to share what they have learned in this period. Context is also important in approaching a playwright who is interested in how the public and private spheres intersect in his plays. Shakespeare is recording the issues of his times through the lens of his personal preoccupations. Knowledge of the environment in which his plays were written is essential to fully understanding their relevance both then and today. The book is a record of where these two plays live for me after six encounters with them in production.
