Van Tassel - Clues to Acting Shakespeare

Praise for Clues to Acting Shakespeare

A workhorse of a book! Beautifully conceived and executed. Clues to Acting Shakespeare is a no-brainer purchase for acting collections in all libraries.

Library Journal

The accessibility of Van Tassels text is testimony to the absolute clarity of the books structure and language, and the fact that he spent many years doing Shakespeare before writing about it.

Tacoma, Washington, The News Tribune

Van Tassel lists and examines ten basic skills required for playing Shakespeare, and clearly defines terms for the actor.

American Theatre

When concerned with performing Shakespeare for the 21st Century stage, see Wesley Van Tassels superbly professional Clues to Acting Shakespeare.

The Baltimore Sun

The scope and quality of this book boggle the mind! It will be an excellent addition to the field.

Sandy Robbins, Head, Professional Theatre Training Program, University of Delaware

Clues to Acting Shakespeare, published by Allworth Press, is outstanding. It will provide you with all the answers and examples youll need in a training program for some time to come.

Bruce Miller, Head, Actor Training Program, University of Miami

Van Tassel pinpoints the difficulties actors and directors have with Shakespeare and is clear and precise in specifying how these difficulties may be overcome. This is a splendid and enlightening book.

Tim Harris, Drama Faculty of International Studies, Ueno Gakuen University, Japan

Shakespeare has to be fun and accessible in order for kids to engage in the text, and Clues to Acting Shakespeare has exercises for breathing, scansion, and phrasing that are indispensable in making this happen.

Laurie Kash, Secondary English and Drama, Oregon

Clues to Acting Shakespeare will be an invaluable tool for my advanced drama classes.

Clint Pozzi, Secondary English and Drama, Seattle

Copyright 2018 by Wesley Van Tassel

All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, and Pan American Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Allworth Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Allworth Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Allworth Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

22 21 20 19 18 5 4 3 2 1

Published by Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Allworth Press is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

www.allworth.com

Cover design by Mary Ann Smith

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Print ISBN: 978-1-62153-662-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62153-663-5

Printed in the United States of America

In America, the struggle for media success often reduces the art of acting to the act of marketing.

Nothing will come of nothing... ,

Lear observes suspiciously.

Playing Shakespeare has nothing to do with marketing and everything to do with the art of acting.

FOR DUDE

who is so very good at this!

THIS BOOK HAS SIX PARTS :

1. For Actors in Training: Acting Shakespeare

is designed for college classes or independent workshops and includes a complete study of ten basic skills required to play Shakespeares language truthfully. This section is designed for a training period of twenty to thirty weeks meeting four to eight hours per week. Actors may also use this material to self-teach.

2. A Demonstration of Teaching and Learning Skills

is the diary of a workshop in which the author teaches the skills. A group of ten actors participate in the forty-hour, twenty-session workshop. Their questions are included, along with the authors teaching strategy.

3. For Community Theatre Actors and Directors

is a diary of the author teaching eight of the skills to community theatre actors. Five workshops are offered as pre-rehearsal training for work on a community theatre Shakespearean production.

4. For Secondary Schools and Reading Shakespeare Aloud

In are condensed for high school English or drama teachers and their students and are also useful for reading groups.

5. For Professional Actors and Coaches: The One-Day Brush Up

For the actor preparing an audition or a roleor the coach or director brushing up is a quick review of four essential skills.

6. Resources

A collection of exercises, an annotated list of selected successful and not-so-successful film and video performances, a bibliography of some excellent books, a glossary of terms, and the index.

Bait the hook well! This fish will bite.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, II, iii

Contents

Procedure

Selecting monologues and sonnets

The OED Questions and answers

Subtext

Verse or realism

Shakespeares limited appeal

Rhythm of blank verse

Blank verse structure

Creating blank verse

Irregular feet

Scansion

Elision

Feminine endings

Trochees

Selecting monologues

End of line support

Caesuras

Use the diaphragm

Kick the box

Review

Using the skills in realism

Lines that are questions

Phrasing

Phrases within phrases

Punctuation marks

Next assignment

Selecting sonnets

Scanning difficult lines

Short lines

More on the OED

Breathing

Lowering the voice

More scanning of difficult lines

First breathing exercise

Breathing work

Second breathing exercise

Third breathing exercise

Circling phrases

Phrasing exercise

Impulse to speak

Supporting the end of the phrase

Combining breathing and phrasing exercises

Questions on character

Combining more skills

Subtext

Playing what the role requires

Subtext exercise

Imposing attitudes