A SHAKESPEARE SKETCHBOOK

Written by Renwick St. James Artwork by James C. Christensen Introduction by Fred Adams Hear ye, hear ye, William Shakespeare wrote for you! (or at least your sixteenth century counterpart). The playwright so revered for his literary talent was also a businessman with an eye toward earning his fortune. He wanted the audience to laugh, cry, gasp . . . and buy seats at the next performance. His plays are filled with sword fights, fisti-cuffs, lowbrow hijinks, lewd references, faeries, ghosts, lunatics, monsters, murderers and mistaken identity. All of Shakespeare's stage has provided perfect fodder for the imagination of artist James C. Christensen whose wise and whimsical paintings and sketches will inspire you to go sit in a darkened theatre where Shakespeare's lovely language may steal up quietly and seduce you. The Bard and more than sixty-five of his dramatis personae all take bows in this unique visual tribute to Shakespeare. Filled with fun and countless discoveries for both the novice and the lifelong Shakespearean, the accompanying text has a performance of its own including the notes on the language, the myths, the murders and the eternal universality of the stories.