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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Page 7
... intention ? We use lots of words for the same thing . Sheila Hancock : Here is Stanislavsky again : " On the stage there cannot be , under any circumstances , action which is directed imme- diately at the arousing of a feeling for its ...
... intention ? We use lots of words for the same thing . Sheila Hancock : Here is Stanislavsky again : " On the stage there cannot be , under any circumstances , action which is directed imme- diately at the arousing of a feeling for its ...
Page 8
... intention at this point ? " he answered , " To get onto the stage . " Yes , here and elsewhere , we will find that ... intentions : David Suchet : " I should like to cite examples of game beats in the opening scene of King Lear . The ...
... intention at this point ? " he answered , " To get onto the stage . " Yes , here and elsewhere , we will find that ... intentions : David Suchet : " I should like to cite examples of game beats in the opening scene of King Lear . The ...
Page 9
... everything as natural and lifelike as possible . But there are two other words we ought to explain . We've touched on playing the quality of a speech as opposed to the intentions behind it . Let's try to THE TWO TRADITIONS 9.
... everything as natural and lifelike as possible . But there are two other words we ought to explain . We've touched on playing the quality of a speech as opposed to the intentions behind it . Let's try to THE TWO TRADITIONS 9.
Page 10
... intention . Perhaps it's to try to explain himself . Ian McKellen : So rather than painting the line , I should think about it and let the voice just do what it will ? Yes , search your thoughts . Ian McKellen : Make a connection ...
... intention . Perhaps it's to try to explain himself . Ian McKellen : So rather than painting the line , I should think about it and let the voice just do what it will ? Yes , search your thoughts . Ian McKellen : Make a connection ...
Page 11
... intention is more interesting and alive and human . The first is general and the second specific . We learn more ... intentions . So don't let us lose touch with that because we'll keep coming back to it . But what about the Elizabethan ...
... intention is more interesting and alive and human . The first is general and the second specific . We learn more ... intentions . So don't let us lose touch with that because we'll keep coming back to it . But what about the Elizabethan ...
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