Bøger af Stephen Purcell

Sue (Suzanne Conway) and Stu (Stuart Jackson) live in the small city of Rockwood. They have never met, nor do they know of each other. Sue manages a hair salon and spends her days styling the 'who's who', while Stu manages a record store and typically deals with the 'who's not'. Though they've never met, Sue & Stu do share a common trait, they both keep a diary. A brief encounter between the two sends Stu on a search to find the mystery woman he believes is destined to become his future wife. Unbeknown to Stu, Sue is busy attempting to be her perfect self. She wants to find the man of her dreams, she wants to settle down, and while she may not admit it to herself or her friends, she's broody as hell for a baby. Sadly, she's not having much luck. All her encounters with men have been disastrous. Her mother is in her ear day-in and day-out and she is fearful of spending the rest of her life with her cat, Mr Snuggles. In a bizarre happenstance, Sue & Stu become an item. Now, their daily diary rants are on each other, not just obscure records and Sue's mother. Can Stu, the epitome of the 'man child' navigate what's to come? Or will his more recent past catch up to wreak havoc? And what about Sue? Is she ready to embrace this whirlwind situation? Is she capable of coping with Stu's antics or is she on course for another doomed relationship?

What do audiences do as they watch a Shakespearean play? What makes them respond in the ways that they do? This book examines a wide range of theatrical productions to explore the practice of being a modern Shakespearean audience. It surveys some of the most influential ideas about spectatorship in contemporary performance studies, and analyses the strategies employed both in the texts themselves and by modern theatre practitioners to position audiences in particular ways.

This introductory guide to one of Webster's most widely-studied plays offers a scene-by-scene commentary of the play in performance, a brief history of the text and first performances, case studies of key productions, a wide sampling of critical opinion and further reading.