New RSC Classics series highlights rarely performed Tudor and Jacobean plays.

The Roman Actor explores the balance between private and public moralities, effectively condemns tyranny, and defends plays, anatomizing both the theatre of power and the power of theatre. This new Revels Plays volume provides a modernized text with a thorough introduction that sets out Massinger's intervention in the political tensions of his own time and examines his clear-eyed portrayal of the pleasures and perils of performance. It also includes a detailed commentary on the play and an appendix discussing the play's textual history. It focuses on the play's theatrical life in its own time and ours, and gives a detailed stage history including an interview with Sir Antony Sher, who played the tyrannical Roman emperor, Domitian, in the Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed production in 2002.

The Roman Actor explores the balance between private and public moralities, effectively condemns tyranny, and defends plays, anatomizing both the theatre of power and the power of theatre. This new Revels Plays volume provides a modernized text with a thorough introduction that sets out Massinger's intervention in the political tensions of his own time and examines his clear-eyed portrayal of the pleasures and perils of performance. It also includes a detailed commentary on the play and an appendix discussing the play's textual history. It focuses on the play's theatrical life in its own time and ours, and gives a detailed stage history including an interview with Sir Antony Sher, who played the tyrannical Roman emperor, Domitian, in the Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed production in 2002.

"The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus" by William Shakespeare is a gripping and intense drama that explores themes of revenge, betrayal, and the destructive consequences of violence. Set in ancient Rome, the play follows the tragic downfall of the noble general Titus Andronicus and his family as they become embroiled in a cycle of vengeance and bloodshed. At the heart of the story is the brutal conflict between Titus Andronicus and Tamora, Queen of the Goths, whose sons are executed by Titus as retribution for their crimes. In retaliation, Tamora and her lover, Aaron the Moor, orchestrate a series of heinous acts of revenge against Titus and his family, plunging them into a spiral of madness and despair. As the body count rises and the atrocities escalate, Titus is consumed by grief and rage, leading to a climactic showdown that culminates in a shocking and tragic conclusion. Along the way, Shakespeare explores themes of honor, justice, and the nature of humanity, offering a searing indictment of the cycle of violence and the capacity for cruelty that lies within us all.

This collection of twenty essays examines the art, profession and idea of the actor in Greek and Roman antiquity, and has been commissioned and arranged to cast as much interdisciplinary and transhistorical light as possible on these elusive but fascinating ancient professionals. It covers a chronological span from the sixth century BC to Byzantium (and even beyond to the way that ancient actors have influenced the arts from the Renaissance to the twentieth century) and stresses the huge geographical spread of ancient actors. Some essays focus on particular themes, such as the evidence for women actors or the impact of acting on the presentation of suicide in literature; others offer completely new evidence, such as graffiti relating to actors in Asia Minor; others ask new questions, such as what subjective experience can be reconstructed for the ancient actor. There are numerous illustrations and all Greek and Latin passages are translated.

Drawing on insights from various disciplines (philology, archaeology, art) as well as from performance and reception studies, this volume shows how a heightened awareness of performance can enhance our appreciation of Greek and Roman theatre.