Book reviews: What country, friends, is this?: Directing Shakespeare with young performers

This book arrived on my desk at an interesting point. I have gone back into rehearsals with students for the first time since the pandemic began – and the piece I am working on is Shakespeare! So, I opened the covers eagerly looking for inspiration and motivation.

On the whole, I wasn't disappointed. Hafler's book is laid out clearly, making it easy to find ideas and techniques that are well explained. It isn't really a book that you can grab off the shelf as you head out of the door to a rehearsal; the practical ideas require reflection, but there are some real nuggets of good practice here. The sections on devising using Shakespeare as a base have some interesting activities, and there is good advice on developing work on and off text if you are faced with a whole Shakespeare play.