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
Results 1-5 of 52
Page 7
... means being concerned with other people , our audience and other characters on the stage , impersonated by the other actors . It's not enough to be aware of our own thoughts , our own feelings , our own words . We must listen to the ...
... means being concerned with other people , our audience and other characters on the stage , impersonated by the other actors . It's not enough to be aware of our own thoughts , our own feelings , our own words . We must listen to the ...
Page 9
... mean when you say " naturalis- tic " ? That word can mean different things to different people , can't it ? Yes , you're right , we must define it . By " naturalistic ” I mean the act- ing style and the kind of text which is the norm in ...
... mean when you say " naturalis- tic " ? That word can mean different things to different people , can't it ? Yes , you're right , we must define it . By " naturalistic ” I mean the act- ing style and the kind of text which is the norm in ...
Page 10
... mean by the mood or the quality , just paint- ing it over with a color called sadness ? Yes , the feeling only . Ian McKellen ( sadly ) : " In sooth I know not why I am so sad . " Now try it humorously . Ian McKellen ( humorously ) ...
... mean by the mood or the quality , just paint- ing it over with a color called sadness ? Yes , the feeling only . Ian McKellen ( sadly ) : " In sooth I know not why I am so sad . " Now try it humorously . Ian McKellen ( humorously ) ...
Page 17
... mean it's natura- listic in comparison with Salerio , whose text is actually much trickier for an actor because it's full of images and metaphors and similes . " Tossing on the ocean , " " portly sail , " " burghers on the flood ...
... mean it's natura- listic in comparison with Salerio , whose text is actually much trickier for an actor because it's full of images and metaphors and similes . " Tossing on the ocean , " " portly sail , " " burghers on the flood ...
Page 20
... mean by it a style which deliberately gives an impression of ordi- nary everyday speech and behavior . We don't mean it in the more general sense of " being true to nature . " Ben Kingsley : Yes , it's a dangerous word and can be ...
... mean by it a style which deliberately gives an impression of ordi- nary everyday speech and behavior . We don't mean it in the more general sense of " being true to nature . " Ben Kingsley : Yes , it's a dangerous word and can be ...
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