Speaking Shakespeare

by Rodenburg, Patsy

• ISBN13: 9781403965400
• ISBN10: 1403965404
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-07-16
• Publisher: Griffin

Summary

In Speaking Shakespeare , Patsy Rodenburg tackles one of the most difficult acting jobs: speaking Shakespeare's words both as they were meant to be spoken and in an understandable and dramatic way. Rodenburg calls this "a simple manual to start the journey into the heart of Shakespeare," and that is what she gives us. With the same insight she displayed in The Actor Speaks , Rodenburg tackles the playing of all Shakespeare's characters. She uses dramatic resonance, breathing, and placement to show how an actor can bring Hamlet, Rosalind, Puck and other characters to life. This is one book every working actor must have.

Author Biography

Patsy Rodenburg is the Director of Voice at London's Royal National Theater and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is the author of The Actor Speaks (Palgrave Macmillan 2000).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Foundation Craft
Foundation Craft	p. 3
The Body	p. 15
The State of Readiness	p. 23
Breath	p. 30
Support	p. 36
Freeing the Voice	p. 40
Placing the Free Voice	p. 46
Consolidation	p. 50
Deepening the Work	p. 53
Range and Resonance	p. 55
Clear Speech	p. 57
Listening	p. 60
Hamlet's Advice	p. 63
Structure
The Givens	p. 69
The Word	p. 72
Alliteration, Assonance, Onomatopoeia	p. 78
Rhythm	p. 84
Pauses and Irregularities of Rhythm	p. 95
The Line	p. 103
The Thought and the Structuring of Thoughts	p. 108
The Structure of Scenes	p. 120
Antithesis	p. 121
Rhyme	p. 126
Prose	p. 155
Irony	p. 163
Puns	p. 169
Language games	p. 173
Repetition	p. 177
The Story	p. 180
Location	p. 184
Stage Directions, Props, Entrances and Exits	p. 186
Soliloquy	p. 188
The Imaginative
The Imaginative Exploration of the Text	p. 191
Anchoring the Text	p. 201
Focus and Energy	p. 217
Summary	p. 222
The Speeches
Richard III	p. 226
Julius Caesar	p. 236
Measure for Measure	p. 242
King Lear	p. 250
As You Like It	p. 266
Much Ado About Nothing	p. 273
The Merchant of Venice	p. 279
Othello	p. 285
Henry V	p. 292
The Winter's Tale	p. 297
Macbeth	p. 303
Twelfth Night	p. 314
A Midsummer Night's Dream	p. 325
Antony and Cleopatra	p. 329
Coriolanus	p. 334
Cymbeline	p. 338
King John	p. 344
Checklists
Preparing the Body, Breath, Voice and Speech	p. 351
The Givens	p. 354
The Imaginative	p. 355
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