Small-Screen Shakespeare

Book excerpt: Small-Screen Shakespeare is a guide to all the Shakespeare productions available for viewing on computer or TV. From Beerbohm Tree’s silent scene from King John, to Helen Mirren as Prospera and Simon Russell Beale as Falstaff, Peter Cochran gives an expert opinion on the best and the worst, basing his judgements on a lifetime of viewing, teaching, acting and directing. The book covers films, television productions, plays on YouTube, and DVDs of videoed stage productions, as well as cinematic Shakespearean spin-offs such as Throne of Blood and Joe Macbeth. The book is composed of five sections: one on film directors who have specialised in Shakespeare; one on screen versions of individual plays; one on films remaking Shakespeare’s plots in a different idiom; one on films which contain creative references to Shakespeare; and a final review of two famous stage productions.