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. |
From inside the book
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An Actor's Guide John Barton. JOHN BARTON 冬← Playing Shakespeare John Barton has directed many productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company and conducts Shakespeare work- shops in the U.K. , the U.S. , and Europe . He has been an as ...
An Actor's Guide John Barton. JOHN BARTON 冬← Playing Shakespeare John Barton has directed many productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company and conducts Shakespeare work- shops in the U.K. , the U.S. , and Europe . He has been an as ...
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An Actor's Guide John Barton. Playing Shakespeare An Actor's Guide JOHN BARTON Foreword by Trevor Nunn ANCHOR BOOKS A Division of Random House , Inc. New York FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION , AUGUST 2001 Copyright © 1984.
An Actor's Guide John Barton. Playing Shakespeare An Actor's Guide JOHN BARTON Foreword by Trevor Nunn ANCHOR BOOKS A Division of Random House , Inc. New York FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION , AUGUST 2001 Copyright © 1984.
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... Shakespeare / John Barton ; with a foreword by Trevor Nunn . p . cm . ( A Methuen paperback ) Originally published : London : Methuen Drama , 1984 . ISBN 0-385-72085-8 1. Shakespeare , William , 1564-1616 - Dramatic production . I ...
... Shakespeare / John Barton ; with a foreword by Trevor Nunn . p . cm . ( A Methuen paperback ) Originally published : London : Methuen Drama , 1984 . ISBN 0-385-72085-8 1. Shakespeare , William , 1564-1616 - Dramatic production . I ...
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... Shakespeare was: a series of conversations, rather than something conceived in literary form. I hope that this is the best way to present its subject matter clearly. I believe that acting is a subject for discussion rather than just ...
... Shakespeare was: a series of conversations, rather than something conceived in literary form. I hope that this is the best way to present its subject matter clearly. I believe that acting is a subject for discussion rather than just ...
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... Shakespeare Company for London Weekend Television and shown on Channel Four in 1984 . At first I rather doubted whether this material should be published . I felt that the series depended quite as much on the live contributions of the ...
... Shakespeare Company for London Weekend Television and shown on Channel Four in 1984 . At first I rather doubted whether this material should be published . I felt that the series depended quite as much on the live contributions of the ...
Contents
3 | |
27 | |
Language and CharacterMaking the Words Ones Own | 56 |
Using the ProseWhy Does Shakespeare Use Prose? | 83 |
S Set Speeches and Soliloquies Taking the Audience with You | 106 |
Using the SonnetsGoing Over Some Old Ground | 128 |
Subjective Things | 147 |
Irony and AmbiguityText That Isnt What It Seems | 149 |
Passion and CoolnessA Question of Balance | 167 |
Rehearsing the TextOrsino and Viola | 188 |
Exploring a CharacterPlaying Shylock | 211 |
Contemporary ShakespeareA Discussion | 227 |
Poetry and Hidden PoetryThree Kinds of Failure | 243 |
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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 rehearsal rhythm Richard Pasco Roger Rees scene sense Shake Shakespeare's text Sheila Hancock Shylock soliloquy sonnet sooth I know sounds speak speare speech strong stresses talking tell theater thee there's thing thou thought Tony Church Troilus verse line verse-line VIOLA words