The Royal Shakespeare Company is expanding its reach into publishing this fall with a new series of individual editions of Shakespeare’s plays. Last year, The Royal Shakespeare Company published the “RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works“ based on the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays. The new standalone series will be available in the Unites States on August 12, 2008 through Modern Libary and in the United Kingdom on September 5 through Palgrave Macmillan. The first five volumes to be released are “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” “Richard III,” “The Tempest” and “Hamlet.” The remaining volumes will be issued in groups of five or six for the next three years until the series is complete.
The text of the new editions will be taken from the RSC Complete Works. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, who edited the RSC Complete Works, will oversee the new series. Jonathan Bate is a professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance literature at the University of Warwick. Eric Rasmussen is a professor of English at the University of Nevada.
Along with a fully annotated text of the play, each edition will feature supporting materials including introductory and analytical essays; historical overviews of the play in performance; and recommendations on the best film versions to watch. Each edition will also feature interviews with leading actors, directors and designers. The edition of “The Tempest” will include interviews with Peter Brook, Sam Mendes and Rupert Goold while “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will feature Michael Boyd, Gregory Doran and Tim Supple.
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