'Stages of performance': Adaptation and intermediality in Theatre of Blood (1973)

This article uses the 1973 film Theatre of Blood (Douglas Hickox, 1973) as a vehicle with which to explore issues of intermediality in the adapted work. I will start by discussing the term intermediality, proposing it as a valuable critical framework with which to revitalize discussion of specifically British cinema. I will then explore the film's inherent inter-mediality, arguing that through its narrative strategies, mise en scène, and performances, the film plays upon the tensions between what it deems to be the medium-specific spaces of stage and film historically produced by British culture. Finally, the article will explore notions of national and cultural context, interrogating the two texts in relation to perceived values attached to Shakespeare, the theatre and the cinema within specifically British culture. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.