Dr Chris Laoutaris’ recent book Shakespeare and the Countess has been listed as the Marylebone Journal’s ‘Book of the Week’, with a colourful review which describes Elizabeth Russell as an “awesome” and “kickass lady”.
Elizabeth Russell led a campaign which resulted in the banning of Shakespeare and his fellow players from the Blackfriars Theatre in 1596, thereby forcing the Burbages into a plan B: the creation of the Globe. In a long and controversial career Elizabeth Russell started numerous riots and instigated acts of kidnapping, breaking-and-entering and armed combat. On many occasions she could be found leading her own band of armed men into the fray, with dramatic consequences ... The review continues: “It’s a thrilling tale and Laoutaris tells it superbly. Empathetic, meticulously researched and strikingly original, Shakespeare and the Countess is bursting at the seams with new research ... The dominant personality here is, quite fittingly, Elizabeth Russell’s, and what a compelling one it is. There were moments I was hard put not to cheer.”
To read the full review go to: http://marylebonejournal.com/Shakespeare-and-the-countess