Searching for Shakespeare

There are few authors you can readily find in as many different editions as you can Shakespeare. As the first entry in the Shakespeare category of my 101010 Challenge, I’ve been reading the Arden Hamlet (3rd Edition), which is certainly the most comprehensive single-volume edition I’ve ever seen, not just in terms of annotations, but also featuring an extensive historical background, information on stage productions of the play since the 1700s, an intensely thorough explanation of the process used to make decisions on the text as presented, a thorough bibliography, etc. The annotations are exhaustive– often including notes about how actors have interpreted particular points or the approach of different productions– and exhausting:

For Hamlet, which I’ve read many times, the Arden is a great choice. I find myself underlining and commenting about the notes nearly as often as the text of the play! But for other plays, such as Julius Ceasar, which is next on my list and which I’ve only skimmed once in college, I’m considering an edition with fewer and shallower annotations. I find the notes, particularly as they are situated on the page and often taking up more space than the play itself, practically impossible to ignore… and in the Arden edition they are complex enough that sussing the annotations turns into a major distraction from the play.

I want an annotated edition because, though I’m not a half-bad reader, there are still many terms and allusions in any Shakespeare play that I know only vaguely, if at all, many of which are critical to understanding what’s going on.

So, I’m investigating other editions, including the locally available Yale Annotated Julius Ceasar, and Barnes & Noble Shakespeare series volumes.

At the price of most, I’ll probably end up buying a few different editions… any suggestions?