Acting Shakespeare for the first time can be a daunting challenge to face. You get your script, find out which part you’ve been given and you read your first line. And you don’t understand it! ‘What does this mean?’, you ask. How are you going to play this role if you don’t even understand the script? Don’t panic! Help is on hand:
OK, take a deep breath and, as with everything in the performing arts, give yourself some time to consider the challenge ahead. To help you get started, here are three tasks which you may find useful followed by a few exercises:
#1 Simplify the Script: The greatest challenge performers face when working with Shakespeare for the first time is understanding the script and therefore being able to deliver the lines appropriately. This is where we recommend you take time out to read the script thoroughly to get an overview of the play and your character’s role. Once you’ve done this, it is likely that you will still be unsure of some of the language being used. So, we recommend you then begin to dissect smaller sections of the script. Perhaps take a key paragraph written for your character and, line by line, translate the text into plain English.
For example, one line in Romeo and Juliet reads:
‘My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound’
This could be translated into:
‘I've hardly heard your voice and yet I recognise it’.
By translating the text in this way, you will be able to understand the sentiments of your lines more easily which will be a great help when you start rehearsing the script.
#2 Character Exploration: Once you’ve taken time to read the script and understand the Shakespearean language, you need to explore your character. Who are you? What’s your situation? What are your connections with the other characters? Once you’ve answered these bigger questions you can start to think about how you character might talk, walk and interact with the other characters.
#3 Pace Yourself: Pacing and relaxing into your role is important for every part but most important when you’re working with Shakespeare. The good news is that if you have put in some time translating the text, understanding the sentiments of your lines and exploring your character, you should feel confident enough to relax into your role. Once you’ve learnt the script, it’s very easy to fall into performing Shakespeare with great gusto and speed. However, use your in-depth understanding of each line to give your performance the pacing it needs to make sense to your audience.
Exercises from the BBC’s 60 Second Shakespeare:
- Hot seating a character is a good way to help you understand the motivation for the role. For example, ask some friends of other members of the cast to interview you as your character. Their challenge is to establish the type of character you are playing and the character’s role in the play.
- Conscience corridor is another successful technique – get the group you are working with to line up in two rows and, one-at-a-time, each actor walks down the middle of this corridor in character. The actors in the rows then call out the thoughts of the character as they see it.
- Tableaus is like re-creating a photograph of the characters in a play at different stages, by having the actors pose in groups. For example, you could create a family portrait of the Montagues and the Capulets as Romeo and Juliet's romance develops.
Freeze frames - Take a key moment from the play you are working on and freeze it. Get the other actors to move around the freeze frame and question the characters about what is happening, why and how they are feeling at that moment.
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