Our Book -

"Keeping Shakespeare Alive, Not Dead"

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Our work is all about keeping Shakespeare alive - not dead!

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So many people who have loved what we do have asked us when we will be publishing a book that tells our story. Well, the answer is...now! This is what the book will explore and share:

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• a totally new, alternative, approach is needed if we are to keep Shakespeare truly alive; it will not take long for the relevance of his work as he wrote it to considerably diminish. 

• our deep-held contention that to carry on just performing Shakespeare in the same form it was written is to do a great disservice to his work:

• just performing the original plays by continuing to just set them in different times/places, twisting the material to fit our contemporary issues and themes, and 'messing around' with his words generally, has the effect of mummifying them as museum pieces.

• when we use Shakespeare to create AlternativeShakespeare, we realise there is so much in what he created that has been ignored over the last 400 years.

• just as important as keeping his works alive is to keep alive the processes that brought them into existence in the first place.

• examples of our plays and the work we do will be included, to support our contentions and to give readers a base of knowledge and truth.

• the book will hopefully inspire others to take on board our experiences to create their own works based on Shakespeare.

• ultimately our work is about helping everyone to be able to have direct access to Shakespeare's legacy - Teachers, Academics, Theatre Practitioners all have their values, but we believe it's so much better if we can all connect with his words without having to necessarily go through 3rd parties.

• Above all, the book aims to be a battle cry for existing and future Theatre makers, researchers, funders, and lovers of Shakespeare to shift their minds to other ways of approaching Shakespeare.