Many people today first encounter staged Shakespeare in an open-air setting. This book traces the history of open-air Shakespeares in Australia to investigate why the anomaly of adapting 400-year old plays under Australian skies exerts such a strong appeal.

List of illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: Open-air Shakespeare, Space, Place and Performance 1. Early Experiments: Pastoral and Elizabethan Staging 2. Pageants and Festivals: Shakespeare in the Street 3. Glenn Elston and the Rise of Picnic Shakespeares 4. From Local Park to National Park: After the 1980s Conclusion Bibliography Index

Rosemary Gaby is a senior lecturer in English at the University of Tasmania, Australia. She has published widely on Shakespeare in performance and is currently editing Henry IV, Part Two for the Internet Shakespeare Editions. She has completed an online edition of Henry IV, Part One for the ISE, and her print edition of the play was published in 2013.