ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates Shakespeare’s riotous audiences as participants in the theatrical event. It takes the Astor Place riots (1849) as a case study to explore the ways in which performances of Shakespeare, in this instance Macbeth, are appropriated by audiences to express national and social allegiances in diverse ways. It argues that Shakespearean performances can provide not just a site for audiences to protest over wider issues but material for the ways in which audiences articulate discontent and evaluates the extent to which disruptive engagement with the play can unexpectedly transform the delivery of Shakespeare on stage.
