These studies take stage history as a means of knowing the play. Half of the studies deal with casting, then the transformations of dramatis personae are analyzed and The Tempest is viewed through the changing relationships of the characters. Some of Shakespeare's most original strategies for audience control are studied, as book draws on major productions up to 1992, just before it was originally published.

Preface, Ralph Berry; Chapter 1 Hamlet's Doubles, Ralph Berry; Chapter 2 Doubling: Theory and Practice, Ralph Berry; Chapter 3 Casting the Chorus, Ralph Berry; Chapter 4 Casting the Crowd: Coriolanus in Performance, Ralph Berry; Chapter 5 Casting Hamlet: Two Traditions, Ralph Berry; Chapter 6 Lear's System and Cordelia's Aside: Leading the Audience, Ralph Berry; Chapter 7 Laughter in King Richard II: The Subplot of Mood, Ralph Berry; Chapter 8 Metamorphoses of the Audience, Ralph Berry; Chapter 9 Dramatis Personae, Ralph Berry; Chapter 10 Measure for Measure: Casting the Star, Ralph Berry; Chapter 11 Within the Bermuda Triangle: Reflections on Recent Tempests, Ralph Berry; Chapter 12 Falstaff's Space: The Tavern as Pastoral, Ralph Berry;