A collection of plays in English translation by some of Francophone Canada's most distinguished playwrights, chronicling their fraught and changing relationship with Shakespeare, these plays emerge from a context in which language is tied to both personal and political identity. Lyrical, farcical, or playful, deeply ironic or deeply tragic, these plays engage Shakespeare with anger and with love in their quest for nationhood, human dignity, social justice, and artistic agency.

Leanore Lieblein, who was born in New York City, came to Montreal in 1965 to teach at McGill University. Her research has focused on early modern and contemporary theatre, especially the staging of plays with a long stage history, the body in performance, and the role of the audience in the creation of character. In addition to numerous articles in the area of francophone Shakespeare, she edited “Traversées de Shakespeare,” a special issue of L’Annuaire théâtral: Revue québécoise d’études théâtrales (Autumn, 1998). In 2007 she was Curator of the “Pourquoi Shakespeare?” section of the “Shakespeare—Made in Canada” exhibition at the MacDonald Stewart Art Centre in Guelph, Ontario.

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