SUMMARY FOR ARTICLE

This introduction maps the prospectus of the issue, introducing the concept of applied Shakespeare in terms of its roots in the applied, socially engaged and participatory performance practices that have developed in a wide variety of educational, theatrical and community settings in recent years. At the same time we should remember that all Shakespeare is in its own way applied Shakespeare to the extent that it will be concerned with the needs and interests of its audiences whether this be the relatively narrow demo- graphic served by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon or the rather more diverse group of theatre-goers that attend the reconstructed Shakespeares Globe on Londons South Bank. In Jennings account of Dream the forest is less a literal than a metaphorical space; for Katherine Steele Brokaw and Paul Prescott the real-world sylvan environment of Yosemite National Park is the setting for the annual outdoor site-specific Introduction productions of Shakespeare staged to mark both Shakespeares birthday and World Earth Day. The articles gathered here offer a sample of the range and variety of work that seeks to answer it. He has published extensively on Shakespeare in performance on stage and screen contemporary drama and British theatre history.