'Jonathan Bate writes with as much elegance as insight about the making of theatre and the creation of the plays.'- Richard Eyre, Sunday TelegraphFrom the Royal Shakespeare Company - a fresh new edition of Shakespeare's gripping political and personal tragedyTHIS EDITION INCLUDES: An illuminating introduction to Coriolanus by award-winning scholar Jonathan Bate The play - with clear and authoritative explanatory notes on each page A helpful scene-by-scene analysis and key facts about the play An introduction to Shakespeare's career and the Elizabethan theatre A rich exploration of approaches to staging the play featuring photographs of key productionsThe most enjoyable way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or participate in it. This unique edition presents a historical overview of Coriolanus in performance, recommends film versions, takes a detailed look at specific productions and includes interviews with two leading directors - Gregory Doran and David Farr - so that we may get a sense of the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible, a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made 'our contemporary' four centuries after his death. Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare plays offer an accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare's works for the twenty-first century.