Let me tell you why the new Norton Shakespeare should be at the top of your Christmas list.

I’ve always been a Riverside girl. I spent hours with my face buried in a much beloved (and very patient) director’s copy until my parents bought me my very own to celebrate my high school graduation. I was ecstatic to find a gently used copy here in London after leaving my own at home. The Riverside–my Shakespearean security blanket–will probably always have a place on my shelf and in my heart. (We’re talking Shakespeare here. I’m allowed to be a little sentimental.)

But last night, I and th...