Alternative Shakespeare Auditions for Women

by Dunmore,Simon; Dunmore,Simon

• ISBN13: 9780878300761
• ISBN10: 0878300767
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1998-01-16
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Auditioners often complain of seeing the same speeches over and over again. Director, Simon Dunmore, has seen well over ten thousand audition speeches performed, and has drawn on his experience to select and edit a new collection of fascinating, fresh and unusual audition speeches from Shakespeare's plays. This book brings together fifty speeches for women from plays frequently ignored such as Coriolanus, Pericles and Love's Labours Lost. It also includes good, but over-looked speeches from the more popular plays such as Diana from All's Well That Ends Well, Perdita from The Winter's Tale and Hero from Much Ado About Nothing. Each speech is accompanied by a character description, brief explanation of the context, and notes on obscure words, phrases and references - all written from the viewpoint of the auditioning actor.

Table of Contents

Introduction	v	(3)
Female Characters and Speeches Too Often Used for Audition	viii
Shakespeare-the Actors' Writer	1	(6)
The Lives and Times of Shakespeare's People	7	(4)
Auditioning Shakespeare	11	(9)
The Speeches:	20	(100)
Countess from All's Well That Ends Well -- Act 1, Scene 3	20	(2)
Diana from All's Well That Ends Well -- Act 4, Scene 2	22	(2)
Cleopatra from Anthony and Cleopatra -- Act 1, Scene 3	24	(2)
Cleopatra from Anthony and Cleopatra -- Act 1, Scene 5	26	(2)
Courtesan from The Comedy of Errors -- Act 4, Scene 3	28	(2)
Abbess from The Comedy of Errors -- Act 5, Scene 1	30	(2)
Volumnia from Coriolanus -- Act 1, Scene 3	32	(2)
Valeria from Coriolanus -- Act 1, Scene 3	34	(2)
Queen from Cymbeline -- Act 1, Scene 6	36	(2)
Doll Tearsheet from Henry IV, part 2 -- Act 2, Scene 4	38	(2)
Countess from Henry VI, part 1 -- Act 2, Scene 3	40	(2)
Duchess of Gloucester from Henry VI, part 2 -- Act 1, Scene 2	42	(2)
Duchess of Gloucester from Henry VI, part 2 -- Act 2, Scene 4	44	(2)
Lady Gray from Henry VI, part 3 -- Act 4, Scene 4	46	(2)
Anne from Henry VIII -- Act 2, Scene 3	48	(2)
Queen Katherine from Henry VIII -- Act 3, Scene 1	50	(2)
Queen Katherine from Henry VIII -- Act 4, Scene 2	52	(2)
Calphurnia from Julius Caesar -- Act 2, Scene 2	54	(2)
Cordelia from King Lear -- Act 4, Scene 7	56	(2)
Mote from Love's Labour's Lost -- Act 3, Scene 1	58	(2)
Princess from Love's Labour's Lost -- Act 5, Scene 2	60	(2)
Rosaline from Love's Labour's Lost -- Act 5, Scene 2	62	(2)
Mariana from Measure for Measure -- Act 5, Scene 1	64	(2)
Jessica from The Merchant of Venice -- Act 2, Scene 6	66	(2)
Mistress Ford from The Merry Wives of Windsor -- Act 2, Scene 1	68	(2)
Mistress Page from The Merry Wives of Windsor -- Act 2, Scene 1	70	(2)
Mistress Quickly from The Merry Wives of Windsor -- Act 5, Scene 5	72	(2)
Hero from Much Ado About Nothing -- Act 3, Scene 1	74	(2)
Dionyza from Pericles -- Act 4, Scene 1	76	(2)
Dionyza from Pericles -- Act 4, Scene 3	78	(2)
Duchess of Gloucester from Richard II -- Act 1, Scene 2	80	(2)
Duchess of Gloucester from Richard II -- Act 1, Scene 2	82	(2)
Queen Isabel from Richard II -- Act 5, Scene 1	84	(2)
Duchess of York from Richard II -- Act 5, Scene 2	86	(2)
Duchess of York from Richard II -- Act 5, Scene 3	88	(2)
Queen Elizabeth from Richard III -- Act 2, Scene 2	90	(2)
Duchess of York from Richard III -- Act 4, Scene 4	92	(2)
Lady Capulet from Romeo and Juliet -- Act 1, Scene 3	94	(2)
Ariel from The Tempest -- Act 1, Scene 2	96	(2)
Tamora from Titus Andronicus -- Act 1, Scene 1	98	(2)
Lavinia from Titus Andronicus -- Act 2, Scene 3	100	(2)
Tamora from Titus Andronicus -- Act 4, Scene 4	102	(2)
Cressida from Troilus and Cressida -- Act 1, Scene 2	104	(2)
Cressida from Troilus and Cressida -- Act 3, Scene 2	106	(2)
Silvia from The Two Gentlemen of Verona -- Act 4, Scene 3	108	(2)
Silvia from The Two Gentlemen of Verona -- Act 5, Scene 4	110	(2)
First Queen from The Two Noble Kinsmen -- Act 1, Scene 1	112	(2)
Emilia from The Two Noble Kinsmen -- Act 1, Scene 3	114	(2)
Emilia from The Winter's Tale -- Act 2, Scene 2	116	(2)
Perdita from The Winter's Tale -- Act 4, Scene 4	118	(2)
Bibliography	120