Abigail Rokison-Woodall

I am one of the general editors of the Arden Shakespeare Performance Editions, for which series I have edited A Midsummer Night’s Dream,  Hamlet, King Lear and Richard III (with Simon Russell Beale). I am also a general editor of the Arden Shakespeare Performance Companions for which I have co-written Shakespeare and Lecoq. I am currently working on ‘Signing Shakespeare’, a project on Teaching Shakespeare to D/deaf Children and a project with the RSC on creating Deaf-accessible rehearsal editions of Shakespeare.  I am writing Insights on Shakespeare’s Dramatic Verse for Arden Bloomsbury.

I began my career as a professional actor, my acting work including numerous roles in theatre, and, amongst other television roles, Primrose Larkin in TV’s The Darling Buds of May. Following a degree with the Open University, undertaken whilst acting, I went on to take an MA in ‘Shakespeare: Text and Playhouse’ at the Globe Theatre/ King’s College London. I completed my PhD in ‘Shakespearean Verse Speaking’ in the English faculty at Cambridge University in 2006 after which I became a lecturer in Drama and English in the Education Faculty in Cambridge and Director of Studies in English and Drama at Homerton College, Cambridge. I joined the Shakespeare Institute in January 2013.

I was on the board of the British Shakespeare Association from 2002-2010 and Chair from 2008-10. My first monograph, Shakespearean Verse Speaking was published by Cambridge University Press in January 2010, and in July 2012 won the Shakespeare’s Globe First Book Award, as a result of which I was invited to give public lectures at Shakespeare’s Globe, Cheltenham Literary Festival and the Shakespeare Institute.  Following these lectures Shakespeare's Globe and The Shakespeare Institute collaborated on a series of Verse Speaking Symposia - 'The End of Shakespeare's Verse?' in which Giles Block I presented our ideas about verse speaking in venues in Staunton Virginia, New York, Stratford Ontario, Stratford upon Avon and at Shakespeare's Globe in London. 

I completed a second monograph – Shakespeare for Young People: Productions, Versions and Adaptations for Bloomsbury Arden in 2013, a third – Shakespeare in the Theatre: Nicholas Hytner for Bloomsbury Arden in 2017 and As You Like It: Language and Writing for Bloomsbury Arden in 2021.  I have recently co-written Shakespeare and Lecoq: A Practical Guide with Ed Woodall for Arden Bloomsbury (due 2024).

In 2017, I was appointed one of the general editors of the new Arden Shakespeare Performance Editions with Michael Dobson and Simon Russell Beale.  I have edited A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet and co-edited King Lear and Richard III with Simon Russell Beale for the series.

I have contributed chapters to King's College Cambridge 1415-2015 (Harvey Miller), Shakespeare Beyond English (CUP), Shakespeare in Stages (CUP), The Children’s Literature Handbook (Routledge), The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare’s Poetry (OUP) and The Great Shakespeareans: Gielgud, Olivier, Ashcroft, Dench (Bloomsbury Arden) and the supplementary material on Much Ado About Nothing for the Greenwood Companion to Shakespeare.

I have written a number of journal articles including the only interview given by David Tennant on his performance as Hamlet.  In 2013 I edited a special edition of Shakespeare journal for Routledge on ‘Shakespeare and Authenticity’.

For the past few years I have been working with the RSC on ‘Signing Shakespeare’, a project which has produced a series of resources and films for teaching Shakespeare’s Macbeth to deaf children – now available on the RSC Learning pages.  I will be co-directing a total communication production (BSL, SSE, spoken word) of the first act of The Tempest with students from Braidwood School for the Deaf at Birmingham Rep in July.  

I have recently directed Edward II and Massacre at Paris for ‘The Marlowe Sessions’ – an immersive audio project (L6L21 productions).

I recently filmed a short documentary – ‘Stratford’s Forgotten Theatre’ about the Stratford Roundhouse and am now working on a documentary about Buzz Goodbody.

2006 - PhD in 'Shakespearean Verse Speaking' - Trinity Hall College, Cambridge

2002 - MA in Shakespeare: Text and Playhouse (with Distinction) - King's College London and Shakespeare's Globe

2001 - BA Hons in Humanities with Literature (First Class) - The Open University

1998 - LLAM Teaching Diploma in Drama

1996 - Diploma in Acting (Three Year Course) - LAMDA