Macready, Booth, Terry, Irving

The series this volume belongs to profiles people who have had the greatest influence on the interpretation, understanding, and reception of Shakespeare, both in Britain and internationally. The goal is to widen the sense of who has contributed to Shakespeare's afterlives by including not only actors and scholars but novelists, poets, playwrights, and composers. Each volume highlights a particular cluster of issues, or a period of time. This volume looks at British and American actors and theater managers of the 19th century. One major tension in their careers was that Shakespeare plays always lost money, but were necessary to establish the legitimacy of the theater, the company and the actor. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)