This study text is geared to both examination and coursework requirements at GCSE level.

Information is also included on textual history and performance, sources, historical background, themes and characters.

It contains questions based on scenes, episodes and the play as a whole.

A special feature is boxed questions, opposite the text throughout, which prompt students to consider the plays and the characters so far - so building up understanding as they read.

A personal essay by a writer who has close contact with the living theatre, in this case Bill Alexander, prefaces the study and students are encouraged to "see" the plays in action.

Production photographs, theatre reviews and drama activities set the plays in their theatrical contexts.

In addition, study questions extend pupils' experience of the plays and provide a sequence of coursework assignments.

Specialist editors also contribute their own views on the plays.