Playing Shakespeare: An Actor's GuidePlaying Shakespeare is the premier guide to understanding and appreciating the mastery of the world’s greatest playwright. Together with Royal Shakespeare Company actors–among them Patrick Stewart, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Ben Kingsley, and David Suchet–John Barton demonstrates how to adapt Elizabethan theater for the modern stage. The director begins by explicating Shakespeare’s verse and prose, speeches and soliloquies, and naturalistic and heightened language to discover the essence of his characters. In the second section, Barton and the actors explore nuance in Shakespearean theater, from evoking irony and ambiguity and striking the delicate balance of passion and profound intellectual thought, to finding new approaches to playing Shakespeare’s most controversial creation, Shylock, from The Merchant of Venice. A practical and essential guide, Playing Shakespeare will stand for years as the authoritative favorite among actors, scholars, teachers, and students. |
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Page 31
... stress is provided when that norm is broken . " Once more unto the breach , dear friends , once more " is a very strong line because there are extra strong stresses . There are seven " dums " here , not five . The extra stresses ...
... stress is provided when that norm is broken . " Once more unto the breach , dear friends , once more " is a very strong line because there are extra strong stresses . There are seven " dums " here , not five . The extra stresses ...
Page 33
... stress the line in everyday speech because of the meaning of what you are saying and try saying it without thinking ... stressed , but for all practical purposes you'll find that it works . Sheila Hancock : There's a very heavily ...
... stress the line in everyday speech because of the meaning of what you are saying and try saying it without thinking ... stressed , but for all practical purposes you'll find that it works . Sheila Hancock : There's a very heavily ...
Page 34
... stress and not a strong one , and is simply a piece of license given to anyone writing in blank verse . An actor doesn't have to worry about it or doing anything about it , except to avoid treating it as a strong stress . If he gives a ...
... stress and not a strong one , and is simply a piece of license given to anyone writing in blank verse . An actor doesn't have to worry about it or doing anything about it , except to avoid treating it as a strong stress . If he gives a ...
Contents
The Two Traditions Elizabethan and Modern Acting | 3 |
Using the Verse Heightened and Naturalistic Verse | 27 |
Language and Character Making the Words Ones Own | 56 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
actor actually Alan Howard ambiguity antitheses Antonio audience Barbara Leigh-Hunt believe Ben Kingsley blank verse Brutus Caesar character COSTARD course Cressida David Suchet de-dum death Desdemona director Donald Sinden dost doth Elizabethan EMILIA emotional example FALSTAFF feel FESTE give Hamlet happens hath heightened language Henry honour Ian McKellen intention irony Jane Lapotaire Judi Dench King Kingsley Lisa Harrow listen look mean Merchant of Venice Michael Pennington Mike Gwilym naturalistic Norman Rodway once ORSINO Othello passage passion Patrick Stewart pause Peggy Ashcroft perhaps Playing Shakespeare poetic poetry PORTIA prose question rehearsal rhythm Richard Pasco Roger Rees scene sense Shake Shakespeare's text Sheila Hancock Shylock soliloquy sonnet sooth I know sounds speak speare strong stresses talking tell theater thee there's thing thou thought Tony Church Troilus Tubal verse line verse-line VIOLA words