John Barton is Advisory Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company and has directed some of the greatest Shakespeare productions of our time. His book, Playing Shakespeare, is a transcript of his televised workshops with some of our finest Shakespearean actors: Peggy Ashcroft, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Ben Kingsley, Patrick Stewart and David Suchet.

This new edition contains a DVD with 80 minutes of video featuring John Barton in conversation with Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Jane Lapotaire discussing changes in approaches to Shakespeare's text since the book first published. This edition also features a foreword by Michael Boyd.

This is a highly readable approach to understanding Shakespeare's text and unlocking the hidden stage directions and actors clues that reside in his verse. As Barton explains, "when an actor becomes aware of them they will find Shakespeare himself starts to direct them."