THAT WAY MADNESS LIES

Ranging from grim and gritty to starry-eyed and futuristic, these 15 stories retell the Bard’s works as they’ve rarely been presented before.

As noted by editor Adler, these tales—by a range of noted YA authors including Adler, Amy Rose Capetta, Cory McCarthy, Kiersten White, Tochi Onyebuchi, Samantha Mabry, and others—are designed to subvert the lack of diversity in the canon. While the plots mostly adhere to predetermined arcs, the characters and settings diverge wildly, with most protagonists recast as LGBTQ+ and people of color. Some authors play with format—retelling Romeo and Juliet through text messages—while others blend genres—Hamlet leans on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Much Ado About Nothing goes SF. While the major comedies and tragedies appear, lesser-known and less-performed works like Coriolanus and problematic plays like The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice—which can be uncomfortable to modern audiences—also get a shot at the spotlight. Although all are engaging, some of the stories feel incomplete; with the first acts and finales left unexplained, readers must interpolate from the source material; this volume will be best appreciated alongside the originals. Still, many of the comedies abound with energy and enthusiasm and the tragedies with current-day woes. These tales aim to and succeed at introducing brave new worlds and creating spaces for those previously omitted, maligned, or silenced in Shakespeare’s works.

A radical reimagining and avant-garde interpretation of Shakespeare.