Child characters feature more numerously and prominently in the Shakespearean canon than in that of any other early modern playwright. Focusing on stage and film productions from the past four decades, this study addresses how Shakespeare's child characters are reflected, refracted and reinterpreted in performance. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates close reading, semiotics, childhood studies, queer theory and performance studies, Gemma Miller explores how a close analysis of Shakespeare's child characters, both in the text and in performance, can reveal often uncomfortable truths about contemporary ideas of childhood, as well as offer fresh insights into the plays.
Among the works and productions analysed are stage productions of
Richard III
by Sean Holmes and Thomas Ostermeier; Jamie Lloyd's and Michael Boyd's stage productions of
Macbeth
and the films of Roman Polanski and Justin Kurzel; Deborah Warner's stage production of
Titus Andronicus
and filmed adaptations by Jane Howell and Julie Taymor; and stage productions of
The Winter's Tale
by Nicholas Hytner, and by Kenneth Branagh and Rob Ashford, and the ballet adaptation by Christopher Wheeldon.