Shakespeare, Ecology and Adaptation - (Shakespeare and Adaptation) by Alys Daroy & Paul Prescott (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The first book to fuse Shakespearean ecocriticism with adaptation studies. It is a single critical and contextual resource for students embarking on an in-depth exploration of ecological approaches to Shakespeare and adaptation, providing both critical insight into adaptive performance practices and accessible contextual information on the field of ecocriticism and early modern environmental cultures. It features primary early modern texts; an overview of key works of ecocriticism; a taxonomy of environmental references in Shakespeare's plays, and extracts from adaptations of King Lear, The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream from around the world"--

Book Synopsis

How can we tune into the ecological dynamics of Shakespeare's plays? How can we adapt those plays to address current environmental crises?

This is the first book to fuse Shakespearean ecocriticism with adaptation studies. It is a single critical and contextual resource for students, teachers and practitioners embarking on an in-depth exploration of ecological approaches to Shakespeare and adaptation. The book provides critical insight into ecological performance practices and accessible contextual information for ecocriticism, early modern environmental cultures and theatre-making.

This guide offers:

- Primary texts from the early modern period to the present, covering themes such as weather, botany, agriculture, fertility, land rights, animal and human relationships, metamorphosis and adaptation;
- A focus on 3 of the most studied and adapted plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Learand The Tempest, as a basis for the wider application of ecological adaptive principles to Shakespeare;
- A full range of environmental references in each focus play through innovative Eco-Tables;
- Concise summaries of literary ecocriticism in relation to each key text;
- Sustained attention to performance and creative writing as ecocritical interventions;
- The first dedicated chapter in the field offering conceptual and practical resources for staging your own Shakespearean eco-adaptation;
- A glossary of key terms and links to resources;
- An accompanying companion website featuring additional resources.

Shakespeare, Ecology and Adaptation: A Practical Guide provides a pedagogic pathway and a ready-made syllabus for teachers. It is also an indispensable resource for theatre directors, designers, actors and dramaturgs seeking inspiration for the environmentally engaged productions and adaptations the future demands of us.

Review Quotes

A remarkable, original book. Not only does it give an overview of this field, but it elucidates ecological dimensions of Shakespeare's plays and provides examples of eco-adaptations that have reached audiences around the globe. The authors clearly explain terminology, give an unparalleled overview of resources, and demonstrate how adaptation can be a vital, creative endeavour as we face environmental crises. Above all, this book is a call to action: it poses questions that encourage others to create their own adaptations, courses and writings. Faced with the climate emergency, readers of this work will find themselves inspired to create art rather than to despair.
Gretchen E. Minton, Montana State University, USA

An indispensable guide to adapting Shakespeare's ecologically rich texts to make meaningful eco-theatre for today's audiences. Unique "eco-tables" of words and imagery in A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear and The Tempest map Shakespeare's natural and figurative languages in ways that invite practitioners to discover new pathways of eco-dramaturgy and -scenography. This creative template can be applied to any Shakespeare play. Running through Daroy and Prescott's volume are strong ethical commitments to foregrounding Shakespeare's scenes of early modern environmental and social injustice, and telling community-focused stories of survival and resistance to decolonize their devastating Anthropocene expansions.

Shakespeare, Ecology and Adaptationis an incredibly smart and accessible how-to resource for realizing the playwright's eco-potential and helping us think and feel our way through our current environmental crisis.
Randall Martin, University of New Brunswick, Canada

This is the handbook many of us doing work in Eco-Shakespearean practice-as-research have much needed, in researching, teaching, making and guiding the next generation of nascent scholar-practitioners to merge hope within tangible directions of engaging the forms and pressures of our time. Shakespeare, Ecology & Adaptation offers a salient starter kit capacious in scope, specific in theory & praxis, laying the groundwork for invigorating new endeavors to emerge.
Theo Black, Cornell University, USA

About the Author

Alys Daroy is Academic Chair of Theatre and Creative Production at Murdoch University, Australia. Her books include Shakespeare, Ecology and Adaptation: A Practical Guide (The Arden Shakespeare, 2025) and Feeding the Harbour City: Agriculture, Planning, Sustainability. Alys is also a classical actor and the founder of eco-theatre company Shakespeare South.

Paul Prescott is a dramaturg, adapter and performance historian of Shakespeare, and a Teaching Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning, the University of Warwick, UK. He has published A Year of Shakespeare, Shakespeare on the Global Stage, Othello: Arden Performance Edition and Shakespeare on European Festival Stages with The Arden Shakespeare, and is also active in theatre production as the co-founder of the eco-festival 'Shakespeare in Yosemite'.