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 150
... that , I think he'll find his way towards solving the problem . But , of course , before he does that , he must begin by finding the right intention . That's crucial . But a certain special tone is involved with irony . That's what I ...
... that , I think he'll find his way towards solving the problem . But , of course , before he does that , he must begin by finding the right intention . That's crucial . But a certain special tone is involved with irony . That's what I ...
Page 165
... that very courteously also . And then say with com- plete simplicity and romantic love of your city , " There it is , Troy . " That's the nonironic bit and it will come over the more strongly after the irony . I thought you could make a ...
... that very courteously also . And then say with com- plete simplicity and romantic love of your city , " There it is , Troy . " That's the nonironic bit and it will come over the more strongly after the irony . I thought you could make a ...
Page 206
... that's the theme . " No pause for Orsino there : he breaks the mood and rounds the whole thing off with a vigorous couplet . End of scene , couplet , let's go . Richard Pasco : Is there the slightest sense from Orsino that the boy is ...
... that's the theme . " No pause for Orsino there : he breaks the mood and rounds the whole thing off with a vigorous couplet . End of scene , couplet , let's go . Richard Pasco : Is there the slightest sense from Orsino that the boy is ...
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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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