Introduction: East-Central and Central-East Europe as an Imagined Space for Shakespeare1

The special issue of Multicultural Shakespeare grew out of several years of cooperation among Shakespearean, theatre, and film studies scholars based in or attracted to the Visegrad countries. Their activities were supported not only by the universities with which they are affiliated but also, in recent years, by two Visegrad Fund projects. The first of the projects, titled Shakespeare in Central Europe after 1989: Common Heritage and Regional Identity , examined the canonised oeuvre of William Shakespeare and its reception in the post -Communist countries after 1989. The group of researchers, which became known as CEESRA (Central European Shakespeare Research Association), led enthusiastic discussions about Shakespeare ' s plays used as a touchstone for social attitudes, historical awareness, and cultural memory in the region. The project aimed to uncover the uniqueness of cultural heritage and historical experiences shared in the region. The results of the project were published in the special issue of the peer -reviewed journal Theatralia (2021), titled Shakespeare in Central Europe after 1989: Common Heritage and Regional Identity (Vol. 24, Special Issue 2021) Theatralia (https://journals.phil.muni.cz/theatralia/issue/view/1824), with CEESRA guest editors, Kinga F & ouml;ldv & aacute;ry and Zsolt Alm & aacute;si.