Ancestors

Toot

Written by Which One's The Monkey? on 2024-10-04 at 09:47

Today an old theatre friend contacted me out of the blue and asked me if I could video myself reading Midsummer Nights Dream so that her son, who is auditioning, could see how fantastic Shakespeare is when it is read well.

It's been many years since I performed Shakespeare, but it all came back very quickly. The characters are written so vividly that it is an absolute joy.

I feel so chuffed to have been asked.

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Descendants

Written by Which One's The Monkey? on 2024-10-04 at 09:51

Draft Excluder's tips on performing Shakespeare.

1. Shakespeare is great to study, but performing it is not an academic activity. You have to play. Play with the character, play with the lines, play with the phrasing. It's called a play, so play with it.

2. Iambic pentameter is great for learning the lines, but you need to work out how to hide the rhythm and where to break the rhythm when you are speaking or it will get boring.

1/2

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Written by Which One's The Monkey? on 2024-10-04 at 09:55

3. Intent is everything. What is the intent of the character when they are saying the line? Where does the thought change?

4. Learn the meaning of the words. They don't all mean what you think they might.

5. Write all over your script.

6. Learn your stagecraft so well that you know when to ignore it.

7. Frickin learn your lines so well that you don't need to remember them, they should just be there as the natural response.

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Written by Which One's The Monkey? on 2024-10-04 at 09:55

And a wee extra about learning lines:

8. There is no easy way to learn lines. The most effective way is the hard graft of repetition.

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