Speaking Shakespeare

By Patsy Rodenburg

Book Overview

From A Midsummer Night's Dream's Puck to Othello's Desdemona, this new edition of Speaking Shakespeare gives you all the necessary tools to bring any of Shakespeare's eclectic characters to life.
Patsy Rodenburg uses practical exercises and textual analysis to hone in on your dramatic resonance, breathing and placement in order to unlock your potential for playing these iconic characters. Speeches and scenes such as Mark Antony's 'O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth' and the bloody scene in which Macbeth admits to Lady Macbeth that he has 'done the deed' are placed in context and discussed in depth.
Combining clear practical, textual and imaginative work with a brilliant analysis of scenes and speeches from the whole range of Shakespeare's plays, this is an essential and inspiring guide for anyone working on his plays today. It brings a renewed focus on the language of power, so frequently spoken in the worlds of politicians and company directors, which will give readers insight into the potency of clear, direct communication, specifically in the context of Shakespeare.
Each chapter has been revised following the author's 20 additional years of experience as a voice coach and includes techniques necessary for a clear and convincing performance.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1350161659
• ISBN13: 9781350161658
• Release Date: September 2023
• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

EXCELLENT!

This book was purchased for a young actor friend who is studying Shakespeare. He has the added challenge of being a non-native speaker and this book has been a tremendous help with learning the rhythms of English speech. Highly recommended for anyone interested in performing Shakespeare, with advice from someone who is clearly an expert.

Buy this book as fast as you can...

Oddly enough, words seem completely inadequate to describe Patsy and her teaching. She is an absolute hero and beyond extraordinary...there are few who understand the human being and their voice better than she. If you don't have the opportunity to be in her presence, and learn from her in person (an undeniably mind-blowing experience), then her books are definitely next best thing. Her writing is always incredibly concise and powerful, but this one is particularly full of wonderful examples and imagery. Her structure and method is so clearly laid out, and her passion is always present in her writing (no matter the book), it is almost as if you are in the room with her. This book would be an invaluable addition to any library, as would any or all of her other works. Patsy Rodenburg is quite simply one-of-a-kind amazing!

Excellent Source

I had to use this text as part of a class at VCU called Speaking Shakepeare. It is wise to realize that this text, since it is voice and movement related necessitates that one must use the material outside just reading it. Reading Rodenburg can be repetitive at times. However, her approach and detailed examples accentuates the translating of the foreign language of Shakespeare into a palpable and manipulative text. This practical approach takes the hindering and fright out of the playwright's words. I have had great success, thanks to using this book as an aide in tackling Shakespeare. A worth while investment. Just make sure that you apply it step by step, not all at once.

Telling It Like It Is

I'm not sure why I purchased this book in the first place--something told me I wouldn't understand Shakespeare simply by reading it unless I really learned to speak it. It's blown my world wide open. This is an astonishing book--which even if it apparently looks like a workbook for actors, is more importantly a guide for anyone who'd like to know what planet she's landed on. Because you can't know much about planet earth if you don't know much about Shakespeare--and the secrets Shakespeare is willing to share with you aren't available unless you can hear his lines, and you can't hear them if you can't speak them. Understand, I've been reading Shakespeare for 40 years. this book has doubled the pleasure and depth of the experience for me.