Much Ado About Nothing presents a battle of the sexes in more ways than one: as both a lightning-fast skirmish of wits between two famously disputatious lovers, and a near-deadly conflict built on conventions of gender and male rivalry. Claire McEachern's new introduction brings this best-seller right up to date, analysing recent developments in criticism and the latest productions of this comedy.

The creation of the new Globe Theatre in London has heightened interest in Shakespeare performance studies in recent years. The essays in this volume testify to this burgeoning research into issues surrounding contemporary performances of plays by Shakespeare and his fellow dramatists, as well as modern trends and developments in stage and media presentations of these works. Truly international in coverage, the discussion here ranges across the performance and reception of Shakespeare in Japan, India, Germany, Italy, Denmark and the United States as well as in Britain. Dennis Kennedy's introductory essay places the new Globe Theatre in the context of Shakespearean cultural tourism generally. This is followed by five sections of essays covering aspects of Shakespeare on film, the stage history of his plays, Renaissance contexts, the movement of the text from page to stage, and female roles. Exploring many of current issues in Shakespeare studies, this volume provides a global perspective on Renaissance performance and the wide variety of ways in which it has been translated by today's media. About the Editor: Edward J. Esche is a Senior Lecturer in English and Head of Drama at Anglia Polytechnic University. He has published on renaissance drama and twentieth-century modern British and American drama. His most recent publication is an edition of Christopher Marlowe's The Massacre at Paris for the Clarendon Press The Complete Works of Christopher Marlowe.

The first New Variorum edition of Coriolanus, by Horace Howard Furness, Jr., was published in 1928. The present edition follows Furness's but does not replace it because frequently the more recent scholarship and criticism recorded here could be accommodated only by reducing Furness's fuller treatment of earlier material. The reader who finds this edition useful is urged to consult Furness's as well to obtain a fuller account on many subjects. Niels Herold wrote the section on Music and Sound Effects, and Sylvia Bryant and Ian Aspinall translated German criticism. Megan-Marie Johnson collaborated with me on the Plan of the Work, on the collations necessary to compile the Textual Notes, and on the Commentary. Ashley Spriggs helped revise the Plan of the Work and the Textual Notes. Both of these latter assistants also had a hand in all the other sections of the edition...