Author Description

"11 incisive, illustrated chapters, along with a snappy polemical introduction and afterword, introduce a promising new direction in Shakespeare studies and the wider culture in parts of Europe and the United States. In 2005, John Carey asked an important question: 'What Good are the Arts?' In the wake of having made their own highly distinctive contributions to the Shakespeare anniversaries of 2014/16, the contributors to this volume ask more specifically, 'What Good is Shakespeare?' New Places: Shakespeare and Civic Creativity documents and analyses a range of innovative projects which take Shakespeare beyond the worlds of education and even the theatre, in an attempt to make a difference in the wider world. Mixing critical reflection on the social value of Shakespeare and creative writing, the volume presents Carol Ann Duffy's Shakespeare Ode for 2016, the first ever open-air performance of The Merchant of Venice in that city's original Jewish Ghetto, a new Shakespeare-inspired liturgy, civic-minded opera and ballet, international Shakespeare clubs and societies, and a creative practice of rehabilitating soldiers returned from war through Shakespeare. Through this rich array of examples, the book suggests that literary scholarship and creativity can make a contribution to civic life and argues for the political importance of Shakespeare's capacity to bring people together in new ways"--