Weathering Shakespeare: Audiences and Open-Air Performance

From The Pastoral Players' 1884 performance of As You Like It to contemporary productions in London's Regents Park, there is a rich history of open air performances of Shakespeare's plays. Weathering Shakespeare reveals how new insights from the environmental humanities can transform our understanding of this popular performance practice. Drawing on audience accounts of outdoor productions of those plays most commonly chosen for open air performance - including A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest - the book examines how performers and audiences alike have reacted to unpredictable natural environments. Weathering Shakespeare goes on to explore the ways in which contemporary concerns about the environment have informed new and emerging performance practices.