Cynthia Greenwood

The works of Shakespeare are world renowned but can be a little intimidating for someone just starting out. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare's Plays" is a guide for those who want to better understand this series of famous works without earning a Master's degree in English Literature. Covering both his major plays such as Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet to his lesser known ones, the guide also entertains with facts and stories about each of the plays and the man behind the pen himself, Shakespeare. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare's Plays" is a must for any stage actor who doesn't fully understand the bard's work.
---Midwest Book Review

The Front Row, Wednesday, 8/06/2008

Today we speak with Rosemary Poole-Carter and Cynthia Greenwood, two of the Houston-area writers who will be featured at the Brazos Bookstore’s first semi-annual Local Authors Day on Saturday. We chat also with John Dunn, Brandon Dinklage and Sanjay Mediwala about this Saturday’s second annual Madcap 24 Festival...

Another of the regional writers featured at the Brazos Bookstore’s Local Authors Day on Saturday is arts journalist, critic and editor Cynthia Greenwood, who is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Shakespeare’s Plays. She speaks with St. John Flynn about her newest addition to the series of books known as The Complete Idiot’s Guides. Listen. Download.

Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell interviews Cynthia Greenwood on her Web site "We write for you biz." As part of a drawing contest among readers who posted questions, one reader won a copy of the book.

River Oaks Examiner

SHAKESPEARE UNPLUGGED IN GUIDE BY LOCAL CRITIC


By CYNTHIA LESCALLEET
Published: 08.06.08

A new book on the Bard might just heal any trauma from forced reading of Shakespeare’s plays in school.

It’s by a performing arts critic, Cynthia Greenwood, who calls herself “a translator and cheerleader” rather than a scholar on the playwright.

“I would hate for him to be lost,” she said.

Part study guide, part insightful context of the culture during Shakespeare’s life 400 years ago, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Shakespeare’s Plays” is about enjoying the “essence and experience” of Shakespeare, she said.

Greenwood, of the Montrose area, said she hope her book might “appease insecurities” about watching Shakespeare.

Chapters present 20 major plays.

Rather than dissect the same old soliloquies, however, Greenwood’s guide includes sidebar commentaries by directors and actors, so there are staging tips and performance reminiscences amid attention to language and verse.

Houstonians might be particularly interested in the guide since many of the commentaries are by local directors and actors, she said.

Other parts of the book discuss his lesser performed plays and his probable collaborations with other playwrights.

Shakespearean theatre was a social art form during the heady world of freelance playwrights and the London playhouses of the 1590s, the author said.

Essentially a freelance dramatist in his early years, Shakespeare was highly talented entrepreneur who was at the forefront of Western show business, she said.

Had he lived today, he probably would have started as an independent television writer looking for a big break, she said.

Signings

“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Shakespeare’s Plays”

by Cynthia Greenwood

Published by Penguin Group USA Inc. Alpha Books

11 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 9

Brazos Bookstore

2421 Bissonnet St.

713-523-0701

3-4:30 p.m. Sept. 27

River Oaks Bookstore

3270 Westheimer Road

713-520-0061

West University Examiner

Shakespeare unplugged in new guide

Published: 08.01.08

If your only knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays is from the high school English classes that made you read them, a new book on the bard might cure you of that trauma.

Cynthia Greenwood, performing arts critic and former Houston Press classical arts reviewer, has penned “The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare's Plays” (Penguin Group).

Her guide is a handy reference to 20 major plays and lesser-performed works. Using tips on plot and theme, the guide focuses on the essence of the spoken word of the plays and the importance of watching them onstage or on film.

It also explores the cultural and historical contexts for the major plays, offering the director's and actor's perspective in addition to that of the scholar and close reader.

Shakespearean theatre was a social art form, press materials said. Greenwood’s book brings you closer to the heady world of freelance playwrights and the London playhouses of the 1590s.

The author reminds readers that Shakespeare, a highly talented entrepreneur, was at the forefront of Western show business.

Local signings include:

11 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug 9

Brazos Bookstore

2421 Bissonnet St.

713-523-0701

3-4:30 p.m. Sept. 27

River Oaks Bookstore

3270 Westheimer Road

713-520-0061

A L P H A B O O K S
800 East 96th St., Indianapolis, IN 46240


For Immediate Release
Contact: Gardi Wilks, 708-366-3839
gardi@wilkspr.com

In New Introduction, Experience the Magic of Staging, Watching, and Performing Shakespeare’s Plays

Looking at Shakespearean Drama as a Highly Social Art Form

In 2004 Al Pacino portrayed Shylock on screen with heartrending pathos in Michael Radford’s The Merchant of Venice. In 1996 Kenneth Branagh created a captivating, nuanced Hamlet in a four-hour tour de force, without excising any of Shakespeare’s verse.

The resurgent interest in adapting classics for the big screen reminds us that Shakespearean theatre is a social art form. Understanding Shakespeare’s plays is within everyone’s grasp – it doesn’t have to be a dull academic exercise.

THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS (Penguin/Alpha Books; April 2008; $18.95) brings Shakespeare’s 400-year-old dramas alive in a new introduction for students, playgoers, and general readers. Written by Cynthia Greenwood, a performing arts journalist and critic who has taught Shakespeare’s plays to college students, the guide offers the essence and experience of the Shakespearean spoken word. This new reference book doesn’t just dissect great soliloquies on the page.

This guide is an invaluable reference tool for high school and university students, drama students, professional and amateur actors, teachers, playgoers, drama critics, and casual readers – or anyone who wants to discover, brush up on or reacquaint themselves with Shakespeare’s plays. Inside the book:

• Cultural and historical contexts are provided for 18 major plays, using refreshing perspectives from directors and actors in lengthy, original commentary;

• Each major play is explored in depth, explaining Shakespearean terms;

• Each chapter offers close attention to language and verse;

• Appendices include Shakespeare's likely collaborations with other playwrights, a glossary, suggested further reading, and resources for viewing live performances and video/audio recordings.

Introductory chapters also remind us that Shakespeare was at the forefront of Western show business. (Most Americans don’t think about Shakespeare as a highly talented entrepreneur – they think of him as the author of plays they couldn’t get excited about in school.) This book brings you closer to the heady, behind-the-scenes world of freelance playwriting and the London theatre scene of the 1590s. It also lends insight into decisions that theatre people make while acting and staging Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Hamlet, and Macbeth, to name a few.

About the author:
Cynthia Greenwood is an editor, writer, and performing arts critic based in Houston, Texas. For the last 10 years, she has reviewed opera and theatrical productions, ballet theatre, and classical music. She has published arts reports and reviews in such publications as The New York Times, Playbill, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Andante, among others. From 1998 until 2002, she served as the opera and classical music critic for the Houston Press. She taught English and American literature and introduction to film to undergraduates at Wharton County Junior College for nine years.



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Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., publishes high- quality lifestyle and reference books in 30 different categories. The Complete Idiot's Guides®, Alpha Teach Yourself in 24 Hours, At Your Fingertips-- as well as other series and stand-alone titles -- provide helpful how-to information and general knowledge in an easily accessible manner.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Shakespeare’s Plays
Author: Cynthia Greenwood
$18.95, 368 pages, 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8, paperback,
ISBN-10: 1592577083; ISBN-13: 978-1592577088
Alpha Books, April 2008