OH God it’s Shakespeare

Why Should I Care?

The mere mention of the word Shakespeare is enough to turn the average kid into a spiral of ‘This is boring’
disapproval. You are probably think that very same thing as you are reading this?.....

But his career as a playwright has had a dramatic effect on the world of the actor and modern theatre. Most
modern stories that you are interested probably have their routes in a tale woven by the Bard, (meaning
Shakespeare). The thing is Shakespeare wanted to entertain people like you in his day, so tales of love, war, sex,
revenge, ghosts, witches, prophecies, gossip, betrayal, were all covered in his 37 plays.

Yeah, yeah, I hear you say, but what about all that boring old English language stuff?? I don’t get it, it’s not
relevant to me? Hollyoaks is way better. Well take that back 400 years and the audience would be just as
disinterested, as they would not have a clue as to what was going on!

The thing is Shakey, wrote in a way that we still speak today, it’s just we don’t realise it. We all speak in a natural
rhythm…Count the syllables…We all speak in a nat-u-ral rhy-thm….10 stresses or pentameter.

Do the I can see, exercise….

I can see that you….

Try and get 10 counts per comment ….we call this pentameter….blank verse…or iambic pentameter.
This essentially is non, rhyming poetry that has a rhythm.
This is the foundation of a large proportion of Shakey’s plays and usually comes from the characters point of view.

So, we will try to breakdown some Shakespeare, almost like a puzzle. So that the first statement ‘OH God, it’s
Shakespeare’, is replaced with a less resistant thought process. Look at this as a chance to explore language, and
it’s construction, to communicate clearly, regardless of how strange it seems. After all that is our job as actors.
We just have to know the rules….so here they come…

Repetition Remember, the power of 3? Why do we do it? To reinforce the moment? To make it
Abundantly clear as to what we are concerned about? Well. So did Shakespeare and here’s how.

Alliteration: Repetition of Consonants

Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds.

Characters that repeat are being clever, witty or manipulative

There is no-sub text in Shakespeare. The words themselves contain both ‘text’ and
‘sub text’

So how do we make them interesting? Think………………..tempo, pitch, volume

Alliteration- Repeated Consonants

Look through your monologue, scene and look for repeating H’s, M’s, B’s, S’s etc
They could indicate the character’s thoughts or intellect of perhaps hilarity, mocking, corruption etc.

Exercise- Once you have identified the Repeated consonants…rise on to your tiptoes every time
You repeat your underlined alliteration.
Assonance- Repeated Vowels
Look through you monologue for repeating vowels…these relate to feelings..

Remember characters repeat to show how much they are relishing what they are saying..make it interesting.

Capitalisation- look through your scene for Capitalisation. We must try and act on these clues
It’s an opportunity for blocking and gestures or more forceful moments.

It can add variety and significance to your performance. You cannot be passive in your
delivery if you apply this rule.

Verse or Prose- Verse, is essentially non-rhyming emotional poetry of which:

Iambic Pentameter ….da-dum , is the most common
Trochee…………dum da

Prose, is not rhythmic, and has no meter.

Count length- 10-beat counts ending on a dum, are masculine.. definite conclusion
9-11-beat counts are feminine and end on a da…It is a feeling of keeping the
thought going forward…’and’

Punctuation- Every piece of punctuation is like stage direction, and meaning…look at the following

1. A women, without her man, is nothing

2. A woman, without her, man is nothing

The same words with different punctuation have a completely different meaning

Full Stop(.) Emotional Change. Gear change

Full stop positions
Mid-line Indicates the next line is FAST and CRASHING
A Discovery…a clue
ASK YOURSELF….What does this draw your attn too?
Ie, the next line, the previous one etc
ASK YOURSELF… Why am I saying this now?
Commas (,) A quick breath, a springboard, miniature trampoline
They are not a pause, or a slow down moment.
Semi-colons (;) Indicates thoughts are rushing forward, therefore the next
Thought is more impassioned, quick breath, think, AND
Colons (:) Indicates the next thought is more ARTICULATE
A better version of the fisrt or a new TWIST
A moment for a big breath. As close to full stop a without
Being one. I THINK=THERFORE
Also= a possible moment of Physicality moment or perhaps
More use of the stage….See the clue and embrace it.
Parenthesis (/) Do something emotionally different
Your character is trying to sort something out in their head
..or it’s an AHA moment or an ASIDE moment to the audience.

Exercise- Go through your scene and read it oud aloud. Move in a different direction everytime you hit a
punctuation point.