《暴風雨》是莎士比亞全集初版第一對開本裡的第一齣喜劇。此劇完成於1611年，同年11月在白廳（White Hall）於詹姆士國王御前演出。1613年，莎士比亞的劇團再度受命演出此劇，以慶祝國王的女兒伊莉莎白與斐卓立克成婚。這個劇本載歌載舞，戲劇效果佳，極適合在婚宴上演出。
本故事內容發生在一座杳無人煙的小島，主要角色普洛斯精通魔法，整齣戲就是由他透過法力「自編自導」而成，其中有引人入勝的狂風暴雨、千奇百變的魔幻法術、飛舞的隱形精靈、怪異畸形的半人半獸，還有奇妙有趣的純情故事等。
This is the first edition of "The Tempest" to be developed by and for the RSC, the world's leading Shakespeare theatre company and it includes unique material to help the reader understand and enjoy Shakespeare on the stage as well as on the page. It is illustrated with photographs of classic and unusual performances. It includes outstanding on-page notes which explain words and phrases unfamiliar to a modern audience, including the slang, political references and bawdy humour often ignored or censored in competing editions. It includes scene-by-scene summary, offering an easily understandable way into the play. It offers completely new introduction by Jonathan Bate, exploring the text and critical debates around it. It provides summary of the play's performance history at the RSC and elsewhere. It includes interviews with important Shakespearean directors Peter Brook, Sam Mendes and Rupert Goold discussing key productions at the RSC.Developed by and for the Royal Shakespeare Company, this new edition includes outstanding on-page notes, a comprehensive scene-by-scene summary, a new introduction from Jonathan Bate and interviews with celebrated directors Peter Brook, Sam Mendes and Rupert Goold, offering illuminating new angles on Shakespeare's magical vision. ．
About the Author
JONATHAN BATE is Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature, University of Warwick, UK, and the editor of The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works. He has held visiting posts at Harvard, Yale and UCLA and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine's College, Cambridge, and a Governor and Board member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. A prominent critic, award-winning biographer and broadcaster, he is the author of several books on Shakespeare, including The Genius of Shakespeare (Picador), which was praised by Sir Peter Hall, founder of the RSC, as "the best modern book on Shakespeare." In June 2006 he was awarded a CBE by HM The Queen 'for services to Higher Education'. ERIC RASMUSSEN is Professor of English at the University of Nevada, USA, and the Textual Editor of The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works. He is co-editor of the Norton Anthology of English Renaissance Drama and has edited volumes in both the Arden Shakespeare and Oxford World's Classics series. He is the General Textual Editor of the Internet Shakespeare Editions project - one of the most visited Shakespeare websites in the world. For over nine years he has written the annual review of editions and textual studies for the Shakespeare Survey.
