The Shakespeare Workbook and Video: A Practical Course for Actors

Description

The Shakespeare Workbook and Video provides a unifying approach to acting Shakespeare that is immediately applicable in the rehearsal room or classroom. It is an easy-to-use text providing practical exercises in specific aspects of Shakespeare's language such as meter, imagery, rhetoric and sound play. In each of these areas, it takes the reader through three steps: Speak the Text, Question the Text and Act the Text. Online video material provides an insight into the acting process and shows the authors teaching a workshop in their method for acting Shakespeare to a group of young actors. The Shakespeare Workbook and Video is the go-to textbook for a practical exploration of Shakespeare's canon.

David Carey is a resident voice and text director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has been a senior voice tutor at RADA and was previously Principal Lecturer of Voice Studies at Central School of Speech and Drama. Rebecca Clark Carey is the head of voice and text at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She was a senior voice tutor at RADA and has extensive theatre experience as an actor and voice coach. They are the authors of The Vocal Arts Workbook + DVD (2008) and The Verbal Arts Workbook (2010).

This illuminating book-and-video package takes a practical approach to unpicking a language whose richness is matched by its often forbidding intricacy. * Youth Drama Ireland * An intensely practical and inspiring manual about the skills needed to perform Shakespeare * Greg Doran, Artistic Director, Royal Shakespeare Company * [An] admirably detailed, practical exercise and advice-filled book * The Stage * Instead of doling out another dogmatic recipe for performance, the authors have created a useful and dynamic methodology that is both an accessible introduction for students and a resourceful guide for teachers ... The Shakespeare Workbook and Video should be in the library of every actor who desires to learn or strengthen the fundamentals of playing Shakespeare ... It contains creative ideas to get students moving and speaking without being intimidated by the heightened language. The authors, just as they intended, have provided easy, practical directions to get actors 'out of their heads' and into their bodies. * Methods: A Journal of Acting Pedagogy * Like all previous books by the team of David Carey and Rebbecca Clark Carey, this text is exceedingly well-structured: every element reveals a thoughtful consideration of how best to present the authors' ideas about Shakespeare performance and the creative methods they have devised for connecting students and readers with those ideas. The authors have drama students and younger actors in mind for the text, though experienced teachers will also find much of value that they'll want to add to their own pedagogical approaches ... Though the text is thoughtfully developed to be a useful resource in the classroom, including helpful "Teaching Tip" sidebars placed throughout, the authors have made every effort to make the book accessible to an actor working independently ... This book is an excellent resource, especially for those who have a limited experience in teaching Shakespeare text. It covers a broad spectrum of curricular goals, while digging deep to assist both learner and teacher to bring Shakespeare's language to life, and embody it in the context of contemporary performance. * Voice and Speech Review *