Reviewer: Peter Wilkins

Shakespeare and Me, edited and introduced by author and academic Susannah Carson, with a foreword by Professor of Humanities at Yale University Harold Bloom, is a collection of essays by actors, directors, writers and scholars who have been influenced by the works of William Shakespeare. The collection provides Shakespeare aficionados with a rich cornucopia of information, inspiration and insight into the Bard's work. Carson's edited collection is accessible and fascinating in the revelations it provides and the absorbing and varied accounts of Shakespeare's influence on her essayists. In her introduction, titled "The Tyger's Heart", Carson states that one of her goals "is to dissolve apparent boundaries". This is evident in the diversity of luminaries who express their devotion to Shakespeare and the enormous influence he has had on their personal and professional lives. Actors such as Sir Anthony Sher and Sir Ben Kingsley and the late Royal Shakespeare Company Head of Voice Cicely Berry emphasise the importance of language in the performance of Shakespeare's characters. Renowned author Dame Margaret Drabble, formerly an understudy with the RSC, emphasises the infinite variety of possibilities in Shakespeare and the creative inspiration that she has received from his works. In his essay "The Sun God", African American actor James Earl Jones examines approaches to the text that can reinstate Othello as a truly tragic hero.

Dominic Dromgoole, artistic director of the reconstructed Globe Theatre in London reveals the complexities of Shakespeare's themes and the challenges he presents in bringing his plays to the stage. He introduces the notion of interactive theatre, in order for us to perceive the differences between Shakespeare's time and our contemporary experience. I am particularly intrigued by  cartoonist Conor McReery's claim that Shakespeare would have certainly worked in the comic industry were he alive today. His influence on the creation of such characters as Wolverine and the Sandman is persuasively argued. Feminist icon and academic Germaine Greer explores the nature of imagery and its meaning in Shakespeare's plays. Professor Camille Paglia defines the politics of order as a leitmotif of Shakespeare's works and other esteemed contributors offer a whirlwind of opinion, conjecture and revelation in Carson's unique and absorbing collection. Every one of the 40 essays offers fresh insight into some of Shakespeare's iconic works, such as Hamlet, Othello and Coriolanus, as well as lesser known plays including Cymbeline and Love's Labour Lost.

The reader of Shakespeare and Me cannot but be fascinated by the complexity of ideas and the clarity of opinion within its pages. As a devotee of the Bard, my mind has been expanded and my appreciation heightened by the pragmatism and erudition contained within these essays. The boundaries have indeed been dissolved, opening the reader's mind to new possibilities and fresh illumination. Whether an actor, probing the possibilities of performing any of Shakespeare's 1222 characters; a writer, seeking inspiration in working with device, style and structure, fantasy or reality; a director eager to inspire new visions and instruct; or an academic, excited by revelation, discourse and endless possibilities, Shakespeare and Me is a mandatory companion on everybody's bookshelf.

Peter Wilkins is The Canberra Times theatre reviewer.