How to Speak Shakespeare - Softcover

Pritner, Cal; Coliaianni, Louis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1891661183 ISBN 13: 9781891661181

Publisher: Santa Monica Press, 2004

Synopsis

In How to Speak Shakespeare, authors Cal Pritner and Louis Colaianni teach readers how to make sound and sense out of the Bard. Their methods have taught thousands of people—from high school students to English literature and theater arts graduate students, from beginning actors to professional actors—how to understand and effectively communicate the poetry of Shakespeare.

In order to make the book user-friendly, the authors have organized it around passages from Romeo and Juliet. The material has been tested successfully with high school students, graduate students, amateur actors, and professional actors. The authors' teaching method is essentially a simple three step process: Test Your Understanding, Stress for Meaning, and Celebrate the Poetry. Classroom and rehearsal-tested exercises are included along with additional background on Shakespeare and his work.

About this title

Review:

"It is clear that "How to Speak Shakespeare" is not only for drama classes, but it can also be easily integrated into an English literature class. It provides a step-by-step guide to cracking the code of Shakespearean language and structure. . . . This book takes something that can be very daunting and makes it easier to understand." --"English Journal"
"""Mr. Colaianni and Mr. Pritner have created this important book devoted to the technique for speaking heightened texts on the stage. By studying the fundamentals Colaianni and Pritner here provide, the serious actor can begin a lifelong commitment to this important, and all too often ignored, essential part of the actor's tools." --Marco Baricelli, artistic associate, American Conservatory Theatre; Leading Actor, Oregon Shakespeare Festival

"This one won't sit long on the shelves after students and teachers discover it. Presented in the most simple--but not condescending--terms, Pritner and Colaianni teach readers how to understand and speak Shakespearean plays...lessons are easy to follow and written with a friendly hand. Thankfully, there are no synopses or critical interpretations, just excellent tutelage in Shakespeare's word usage, punctuation and poetry." --"Today's Librarian"
""How to Speak Shakespeare" is an invaluable, entertaining and informative book. This is the most accessible and unintimidating work on this subject I have read. It will be of equal interest to actors, scholars and lay people." --Vivian Matalon, Tony Award-winning director

Synopsis:

This classroom and theatre-tested programme teaches amateur and professional actors alike how to understand and effectively communicate the poetry of Shakespeare. Organised around passages from Romeo and Juliet, a simple, three-step process is presented. In the first step, Test Your Understanding, readers learn the value of looking up words in the Oxford English Dictionary and paraphrase passages to ensure that they truly understand the words they are speaking. The second step, Stress for Meaning, presents essential tools for speaking Shakespeare effectively, including iambic pentameter and correct rhythm, and explains how to syncopate for meaning. The final step, Celebrate the Poetry, honours the poetry of Shakespeare through a discussion of the use of punctuation, repeated sounds, and connecting key words and phrases. Exercises bring all the elements of these steps together.

About this edition

• Publisher: Santa Monica Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1891661183
• ISBN 13: 9781891661181
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160