Imagine a king standing on a barren heath in the midst of a raging storm, his gray hair whipped by wind and rain as he cries out to the black skies above. There is no stage curtain separating him from the elements – it is as if nature itself has become his tormentor and only witness. This is King Lear, stripped of his crown and wits, railing against thunder as though the universe might answer for the injustices that have befallen him. In that harrowing moment, William Shakespeare reveals his conception of drama as something cosmic and profound. The stage is not merely wood and paint; it is a microcosm of the entire world, a place where mortal human struggles reflect larger philosophical truths. Shakespeare’s theatre makes the audience feel that human affairs are entangled with the very fabric of the cosmos. When Lear howls in vain at the tempest, ...