Clues to Acting Shakespeare (3rd ed) Page 2

  The idea came to me to assemble a group of community theatre actors (a typical cast of varying types), train them in some of the skills, and determine what changes, if any, would be needed in the training techniques to make this group of actors proficient in handling Shakespeare’s language. I would then use what I discovered to make some suggestions to community theatre directors regarding techniques for applying the skills to their casts. These results comprise the entirely new part three of this third edition.

  By combining this new material with parts one and two, community theatre actors and directors will find most of the answers they need to prepare the language for rehearsal of a Shakespearean production. I obtained the new material by teaching and recording five consecutive weekly workshops to a community theatre cast of actors—called our “merry band”—and by evaluating how they worked and handled the material. Our reactions are included at the end of part three. A lot of people are involved in community theatres in America, but I doubt a more friendly or intelligent group exists than the “cast” we had for these workshops.

  Preface to the Second Edition

  Since the first edition of Clues to Acting Shakespeare was published, I’ve been asked hundreds of questions about techniques for teaching specific skills. Questions like, “How do you get the actors to apply all of these skills at once?” and “Is this the best order in which to teach the skills?” The simple and most useful way to answer the questions is with this second edition.

  Part two is a completely new section for the second edition. In the fall of 2005 I taught a forty-hour, twenty-session workshop to ten actors and recorded it. The actors, all in their twenties, had four to ten years of experience with realism or musical theatre, but almost no background in acting heightened text. Our agonies and triumphs are all recorded here, as are all of their questions and my answers.

  Every one of these skills is designed to prepare the actor for rehearsal. The techniques used here illustrate one way to teach the skills, but certainly not the only way. This works for me, and some of it may work for you. Use what you can; ignore the rest!

  Introduction

  It shall do you no harm to learn.

  ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, II, ii

  THE INTENTION of this book is to help the working actor discover and use specific skills for acting Shakespeare. There are many books about acting Shakespeare, but most deal with historical, philosophical, or personal approaches to the characters. They offer interpretations of these characters that are often drawn from actual performances (e.g., Antony Sher’s Year of the King). But for the working actor struggling with blank verse, only a few of these books are of “immediate” or practical value. Several voice studies that illustrate the union of Shakespearean text and developed vocal skills are the most useful.

  When preparing to act a role, the actor must learn to handle the language of the specific play so that the character will be truthful in both intention and presentation. Heightened language, as in Shakespeare’s plays, can be difficult, and failure to handle it effectively will quickly destroy an otherwise well-intended characterization. Therefore, the actor must train the voice and then learn specific skills to handle this language. Once these skills have become practice, books that talk about acting Shakespeare are very helpful for character research and analysis.

  That few books are available to help the working actor gain the skills necessary to handle verse is not surprising. A coach or director cannot write about this process until he or she has worked with hundreds of actors and discovered successful techniques.

  I have had the privilege to coach the skills presented in this book to several hundred professional and student actors. These actors, mostly American, taught me that what they needed most were skills to handle the language, especially the verse, as those skills would allow them to play characters truthfully. Most of these actors expressed confidence about character intention and development (the skills that are the core of realistic actor training), but were uncomfortable with the idea of playing their characters while speaking verse. Most of these actors were amazed (and then delighted) to learn that with Shakespeare, the character is discovered through the verse.

  Therefore, when coaching Shakespeare, one must always begin with the practical skills required to speak the text. The scope of this book is limited to that study. Techniques to develop the character that emerges from correctly speaking the text are the subject of other books, many of which are listed in the bibliography. Character study must always follow language study. With Shakespeare, the reverse spells disaster, as I will clarify in these pages.

  This book is primarily for actors who intend to play Shakespeare but whose training is based on realism. Because that specific training rarely considers blank verse, you, the actor, are probably missing a few skills. These skills must be identified and learned so that your work with Shakespeare can be successful.

  When using this book, professional actors should turn immediately to part five, “For Professional Actors and Coaches: The One-Day Brushup” (page 279) for a quick review of skills you probably already know. Actors in training or professionals who want more detailed study should begin with part one (page 1). Secondary teachers and reader groups should begin with part four (page 237), and refer back to part one as necessary. Community theatre actors and directors should begin with part three (page 175), then refer back to parts one and two.

  Some of the realistic acting skills that you apply to Chekhov, Williams, Miller, Wasserstein, Mamet, or the dialogue in most films are important and applicable to acting Shakespeare. For example, once you’ve trained your voice, playing your action to achieve your objective is still the most important acting skill. But some of the others, like reading the subtext or emotional memory recall, are less important than the language when playing Shakespeare.

  Special skills required to play Shakespeare must be added to or replace what you’ve already acquired. The differences are not in motives, actions, personalities, relationships, or conflicts (the ingredients of character and plot), but in the requirements of the language.

  Two excellent studies on acting heightened text and acting realism are, respectively, Cicely Berry’s The Actor and the Text and Constantin Stanislavski’s An Actor Prepares. The subjects are often similar and share many common truths, yet certain skills are very different and will be identified in this book. While nothing needs to be changed in either Berry or Stanislavski and every actor should master what each teaches, these exceptional works share a common problem: Their great depth of information can confuse and discourage the reader. The confusion is especially evident among American actors who attempt to master unfamiliar techniques for acting Shakespeare through Berry’s book, unless they are fortunate enough to have an excellent coach who is familiar with the skills. Without a personal coach, or with a coach who is learning along with the actor, how does the actor trained in realism prepare to learn these many new approaches to acting?

  Clues to Acting Shakespeare clarifies the specific preparation and identifies the skills required to act heightened text—to move from Chekhov to Shakespeare—to adjust from one language structure to the other. Procedures for learning these skills are included. Many of the skills also apply to acting Shakespeare’s contemporaries, other verse drama like Molière or the Greeks, and to modern realistic text.

  Advanced study should follow, beginning with The Actor and the Text and Barton’s Playing Shakespeare book and video series. Correct vocal usage should be learned and practiced, using the techniques of Berry, Kristin Linklater, or Patsy Rodenburg. When you are ready for a much more detailed study of verse structure, refer to Delbert Spain’s Shakespeare Sounded Soundly.

  Clues to Acting Shakespeare will not deal with playing realism—for example, Stanislavski’s methods, Meisner, Hagen, and so on—because it assumes the reader has experience in that field and is now taking the step to act heightened text.

  I have spent nearly thirty years coaching “acting Shakesp
eare” at universities or private workshops and even longer directing his plays. This book has evolved into a summary of what actors have taught me over the course of these decades. I hope these “clues” simplify the process for you and help make the material accessible. Don’t let Shakespeare’s text frighten you. This greatest of writers wrote for actors, and discovering what you can do with this language is challenging, stimulating, all-consuming, rewarding, and great fun!

  He was skillful enough to have lived still.

  ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, I, i

  PART ONE

  For Actors in Training: Acting Shakespeare

  Now name the rest of the players.

  A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, I, ii

  CHAPTER 1

  Common Understandings

  Their understanding

  Begins to swell, and the approaching tide

  Will shortly fill the reasonable shore.

  THE TEMPEST, V, i

  BEFORE WE BEGIN work on the specific skills required to act Shakespeare, let’s review and clarify some terms and approaches to acting. Answering these questions now will give us a common foundation for the exercises that follow.

  EMPHASIS IN ACTOR TRAINING

  The Realistic Actor

  The term “realism” refers to realistic scripts that are written in prose, where dialogue reads like everyday speech. Included are most stage plays written after 1900 and nearly all film and television plays. “Realistic actor” refers to that individual who has studied the craft primarily to act realistic text by application of Stanislavski methods. “Realistic actor” may suggest an artist who has taken supervised voice study, but that assumption may or may not be true. At any rate, it would be unrealistic to assume that any actor proficient in realism would automatically be a skilled presenter of Shakespeare.

  The Classical Actor

  The phrase “playing Shakespeare” refers to the performance of plays written in heightened language. Heightened text follows specific rhythmic patterns and is usually filled with imagery. Included are most plays written prior to 1900. There are exceptions, like Chekhov, Strindberg, and Ibsen, who wrote realism. Generally, learning to handle Shakespeare’s heightened language also gives the actor a solid foundation for playing Molière, Restoration comedy, Goethe, Rostand, and many others. As most of these plays are referred to as “classical,” actors trained to perform them are often called “classical actors.”

  The Film Actor

  Nowadays, we also have the “film actor.” This additional category is necessary because many performers on film are certainly “actors,” but they may or may not possess the training and skills that stage actors acquire. Actors, including persons identified as “stars,” who work primarily on film or video may or may not have a trained voice, and may or may not be capable of a range of characterization.

  These categories actually identify an actor’s training and preparation to work in the profession. The profession itself has many forms—stage, classical stage, musical stage, dance, video, film, radio, spoken books, recordings, voice-over, sales shows, demonstrations, modeling, and so forth. Well-trained actors can work in most of the forms, whereas less talented or less trained persons might specialize.

  In this book, our concentration is on performance of Shakespeare’s plays for stage, video, or film. However, many of the skills required to perform this task successfully can be applied to acting realism and other performance opportunities—indeed, they should be applied whenever possible.

  ARE THESE SKILLS DIFFICULT TO LEARN?

  O, answer me! Let me not burst in ignorance.

  HAMLET, I, iv

  No, but they must be learned. When an actor trained in realism tackles a Shakespearean role without applying these special skills, the usual results are an affected voice and strained and unbelievable acting. Shakespeare’s language controls the actor, rather than the actor controlling the language. The ability to play realism on film or stage does not translate to the ability to play Shakespeare.

  But, since fine Shakespeare acting coaches are available, actors with some degree of talent can be successful at playing verse. When we observe unsuccessful performances, we are left to wonder: (1) Where were the coaches? or (2) Is that actor really without talent?

  The skills required for success with Shakespeare, once explained, are not hard to recognize. For example, young actors in training are often shown film or video performances of Shakespeare’s plays. These student actors can quickly articulate the reasons for good or poor performances.

  Part six lists some selected film and video performances that contain interesting acting challenges and are well worth studying.

  KNOW THYSELF

  Now will I begin your moral, and do you follow.

  LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST, III, i

  As a realistic actor approaching Shakespeare, you face specific challenges; therefore, you must know your starting point. If you are a strong realistic actor, you probably work somewhat in the following way: You develop a character through playing your action and discovery of subtext and objectives. You realize that your action has to be measured in the person from whom you want something. In the rehearsal process, you find ways to “use” the text to illustrate and play your actions. Speaking the subtext, especially in many modern plays, is, you realize, often as important as speaking the actual words. You have success with these techniques, your character dominates the language, and you control the situation. This approach gives you strength and believability.

  If you are a limited realistic actor—perhaps with little or no training or an ineffective voice, without the natural skills required to be honest—you can’t work within this framework, because you can’t speak the subtext or play the action truthfully. You may have a “tin ear.” That problem is usually compounded by an untrained voice and a tendency to apply sarcasm to each line reading.

  The application of sarcasm, sneering or adding a cutting tone to the line, is rampant amongst poorly trained American actors, and I’m sure you have heard it in the performances of others. For truth, personality is substituted, and for honest feelings, attitude. The actor colors the text with sarcasm, thinking the text needs coloring, and not knowing what else to do or how else to do it. Many actors with limited skills can be seen daily in videos and television programs. Trained actors and directors recognize this limitation. Untrained actors and directors (and producers and casting agents) think such actors are just fine—as long as they are marketable.

  Whether you are a strong or a limited realistic actor, you can easily identify the skills required to perform Shakespeare. You must then determine for yourself if you can go beyond identification to the process of learning and applying these skills.

  IDENTIFYING COMMON MISTAKES

  Awake your senses, that you may the better judge.

  JULIUS CAESAR, III, ii

  The First Mistake: When a realistic actor approaches Shakespeare by asking, How shall I play this character? the first mistake has been made. Instead, the actor must ask this question: What is this language doing and what is the action implied?

  The Second Mistake: Assuming that a character can manipulate the language is the second mistake. In realism, you play the subtext and sometimes can establish your own rhythm. In Shakespeare, the meter and rhythm are set for you, and you must play accordingly.

  The Third Mistake: Plunging right into character development is the third mistake. When studying a Shakespearean role, development of character is the third thing you do, not the first. The first is text analysis, and the second is speaking the language aloud; only then can you make choices about what the character is doing and saying.

  The early development of character choices is a serious mistake made by nearly all actors (student or professional) who attempt to play a character that is written in heightened language. The reason for the mistake is understandable: Realistic actor training is based on methods to discover truthful character, so it is difficult to refrain from imm
ediate character choices.

  THE BIG “CHARACTER” MISTAKE

  When reading a script, actors imagine characters and quickly search for actions to bring those characters to life. Text study can seem to delay the opportunity to play the character. Many actors don’t realize that with heightened language, character discovery comes through the text. These actors believe that text study is an intellectual activity that has little to do with playing the role. When acting Shakespeare, that naiveté will spell disaster.

  If you know some basics about music and decide you want to play the piano, how successful will you be if you don’t learn the skills? If you want to play baseball, but prefer to ignore hitting and fielding practice, how good will you become? Without applying yourself to master the skills, how successful can you be at anything?

  But once you become really good at something, skills move to the background and your mastery of the activity takes over. We refer to such a performance as “effortless.” We, the viewer or listener, see no technique—only skillful results. How much effort does it take to make something “effortless?”

  Unless you make the effort to discover what the language is saying and doing, and then have the skills to read that language correctly, your Shakespearean characterization will be unsuccessful. Regardless of the amount of time you put into development of the character, if you haven’t first discovered what’s in the words, your character cannot be completely engaging; the audience will not clearly understand you and won’t quite believe what you are saying.