Introduction

Beginning with the case study of the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet 360, this introduction sets out the core concerns of Shakespeare’s Audiences. Overviewing the major scholarship in Shakespeare audience studies, the introduction addresses the disciplinary tensions involved in attempting to recover the experiences of audiences, historical and present, and sets out the book’s strategy for bringing together diverse methodologies and approaches. This book argues for the importance of attending to the local and contextual conditions that shape the unique relationships between Shakespeare’s plays and their audiences, and for attention to the ways in which audiences shape the performance event.