Awards

• Runner-up for ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award: Reference 2009
• Runner-up for ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award: Reference 2009.
• Winner of Silver Prize Winner of Foreword's 2009 Book of the Year Award in Reference 2009

Overview

William Shakespeare has gotten a bum rap from scholars on his use of time and location in his plays. Almost from the first, commentators determined that the Bard was indifferent to such mundane matters. With near glee, early critics pointed at apparent blunders like clocks appearing in Julius Caesar or the two gentlemen of Verona sailing to landlocked Milan. Yet, as any thespian knows, considerations of place and time are primary building blocks of their art. In Shakespeare's Watch: A Guide to Time and Location in the Plays, Buzz Podewell provides the location and designates the time of each scene in the playwright's comedies, tragedies, and histories. Working scene-by-scene, Podewell provides a brief synopsis of the action to first situate the story. A discussion of the location of each scene and its significance to the action follows, along with a designation of the time of the action (i.e. the play's time scheme) and the time-intervals between scenes. Additionally, both real and conjectural maps of the plays are included to give a sense of the geographical scope of each play. When relevant, maps of the actual historical battles referred to in the texts are also provided. Actors, designers, directors, scholars, and students will all find value in this unique and valuable resource.

Full Product Details

9780810863910

Table of Contents

Reviews

Podewell provides what may be an indispensable resource intended primarily for working theater artists. This reference will also interest directors, designers, scholars, students, and general readers with an enthusiasm for Shakespeare. Reference and Research Book News, November 2009 Other books have addressed this topic, but none matches Podewell's comprehensive assessment...This book will mostly benefit working theater artists and directors but is also strongly recommended for theater historians. Serious Shakespeare fans may find value in it as well. Library Journal, November 2009 This comprehensive two-volume set, designed as a reference work for students, scholars, actors, directors, and designers, opens with an extended essay that addresses those chronological and geographical concerns and also provides some insight into the directorial processes involved in staging Shakespeare...Each analysis is thorough and thoroughly researched, and the notes included often provide additional elucidation. When 'the play's the thing,' this sizable source should prove to be a featured player in the reference cast of any literature or performing-arts collection. Booklist, Online Exclusive December 2009 This clearly written work will prove especially helpful to theater personnel, but general audiences and scholars will also find it a useful reference. American Reference Books Annual Other features that make Shakespeare's Watch a pragmatic guide are helpful user notes, an easy-to-handle two-volume arrangement, and maps embedded in the discussions of the plays, some of which were drawn by Podewell. ... Engagingly written and well researched, academic libraries serving active programs in literature and theater will benefit most from Shakespeare's Watch. Reference and User Services Quarterly, Spring 2010 Individual chapters present helpful, succinct, scene-by-scene discussions and synopses of time and place and their significance. Sturdily bound, the book features clear double-columned text accompanied by helpful black-and-white illustrations and diagrams by Ricola Willie. Recommended. Choice, December 2009 The two volumes form a comprehensive and scholarly guide that will be profitably consulted by all readers of Shakespeare, not just the actors and directors whom Podewell had mostly in mind!.These substantial yet elegant books are sure to be widely consulted for the accessible amount of information that they provide. Reference Reviews

Podewell provides what may be an indispensable resource intended primarily for working theater artists. This reference will also interest directors, designers, scholars, students, and general readers with an enthusiasm for Shakespeare. Reference and Research Book News Other books have addressed this topic, but none matches Podewell's comprehensive assessment...This book will mostly benefit working theater artists and directors but is also strongly recommended for theater historians. Serious Shakespeare fans may find value in it as well. Library Journal This comprehensive two-volume set, designed as a reference work for students, scholars, actors, directors, and designers, opens with an extended essay that addresses those chronological and geographical concerns and also provides some insight into the directorial processes involved in staging Shakespeare...Each analysis is thorough and thoroughly researched, and the notes included often provide additional elucidation. When 'the play's the thing,' this sizable source should prove to be a featured player in the reference cast of any literature or performing-arts collection. Booklist This clearly written work will prove especially helpful to theater personnel, but general audiences and scholars will also find it a useful reference. American Reference Books Annual Other features that make Shakespeare's Watch a pragmatic guide are helpful user notes, an easy-to-handle two-volume arrangement, and maps embedded in the discussions of the plays, some of which were drawn by Podewell. ... Engagingly written and well researched, academic libraries serving active programs in literature and theater will benefit most from Shakespeare's Watch. Reference and User Services Quarterly Individual chapters present helpful, succinct, scene-by-scene discussions and synopses of time and place and their significance. Sturdily bound, the book features clear double-columned text accompanied by helpful black-and-white illustrations and diagrams by Ricola Willie. Recommended. CHOICE The two volumes form a comprehensive and scholarly guide that will be profitably consulted by all readers of Shakespeare, not just the actors and directors whom Podewell had mostly in mind!.These substantial yet elegant books are sure to be widely consulted for the accessible amount of information that they provide. Reference Reviews

Podewell provides what may be an indispensable resource intended primarily for working theater artists. This reference will also interest directors, designers, scholars, students, and general readers with an enthusiasm for Shakespeare. Reference and Research Book News Other books have addressed this topic, but none matches Podewell's comprehensive assessment...This book will mostly benefit working theater artists and directors but is also strongly recommended for theater historians. Serious Shakespeare fans may find value in it as well. Library Journal This comprehensive two-volume set, designed as a reference work for students, scholars, actors, directors, and designers, opens with an extended essay that addresses those chronological and geographical concerns and also provides some insight into the directorial processes involved in staging Shakespeare...Each analysis is thorough and thoroughly researched, and the notes included often provide additional elucidation. When 'the play's the thing,' this sizable source should prove to be a featured player in the reference cast of any literature or performing-arts collection. Booklist This clearly written work will prove especially helpful to theater personnel, but general audiences and scholars will also find it a useful reference. American Reference Books Annual (ARBA) Other features that make Shakespeare's Watch a pragmatic guide are helpful user notes, an easy-to-handle two-volume arrangement, and maps embedded in the discussions of the plays, some of which were drawn by Podewell. ... Engagingly written and well researched, academic libraries serving active programs in literature and theater will benefit most from Shakespeare's Watch. Reference and User Services Quarterly Individual chapters present helpful, succinct, scene-by-scene discussions and synopses of time and place and their significance. Sturdily bound, the book features clear double-columned text accompanied by helpful black-and-white illustrations and diagrams by Ricola Willie. Recommended. CHOICE The two volumes form a comprehensive and scholarly guide that will be profitably consulted by all readers of Shakespeare, not just the actors and directors whom Podewell had mostly in mind...These substantial yet elegant books are sure to be widely consulted for the accessible amount of information that they provide. Reference Reviews

Author Information

Buzz Podewell is professor of directing, theatre history, and Shakespeare at Tulane University.

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