“Understanding the past is validation for welcoming the new. David Kaplan serves up the past with delightful relish. His openness to its values expands the space for new insights.”
—Felicia Hardison Londré, University of Missouri Curators’ Distinguished Professor Emerita of Theatre

“In his stimulating comprehensive consideration of culture and literature, David Kaplan has gifted us an intriguing discourse replete with insight and anecdote.”
—Suzanne Esper, Director, William Esper Studio

“Theater historians wince and my (hundreds of) students indulge in medieval dance, the minuet, and gossip of the French court because of David Kaplan’s text. Anchored in storytelling and artifact, this text tracts the human history of theater and its connections to plays performed today.”
—Patricia Cregan Navarra, Hofstra University

An inspiringly evocative, inspirational, and provocative storyteller, David Kapan truly understands the deep structure of theater history, illuminating the connectivity of our past and how it impacts the present without pretension or historical distance. Instead of lecturing at us, Kaplan whispers in our ear, taking us on an intimate journey, one as immensely readable as epic fiction, but always offering a fresh, complex, and utterly persuasive perspective.

While you may not always agree with Mr. Kaplan, you will never disagree either—an important distinction: Mr. Kaplan is not only the author, but also host, rhetorician, and even at times politician. Shakespeare, Shamans, and Show Biz is an always compelling approach to understanding how we in theater are and have always been connected.
—Mark Charney, Director, School of Theatre and Dance, Texas Tech University