Series: Arden Performance Companions

This book provides actors, directors, teachers and students with a clear, practical guide to applying the work of influential theatre practitioner Jacques Lecoq to the process of rehearsing or workshopping the Shakespeare text. Written by theatre practitioner Ed Woodall, who trained with Lecoq himself, and Shakespeare academic Abigail Rokison-Woodall, this guide begins with warm-ups and ensemble-building, and moves through explorations...

This practical handbook is invaluable for anyone performing, teaching, studying, or simply wanting a new way to enjoy Shakespeare. It provides an outline of Meisner’s work and legacy, a discussion of that legacy in the light of the enduring global popularity of Shakespeare, and a wealth of practical exercises drawn from Meisner’s techniques. Shakespeare writes about the truth in human...

This practical guide uncovers the roots of Brecht’s lifelong obsession with Shakespeare and makes the case for reading the two together today. By connecting these two great playwrights, Stephen Unwin imagines new possibilities for Brechtian productions of Shakespeare and outlines practical suggestions for how to stage such productions. Drawing on directing and performance experience in over 60 productions, Unwin’s knowledge...

This book provides actors, directors, teachers and students with a clear, practical guide to applying the work of influential theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavsky to Shakespeare. Shakespeare and Stanislavsky provides a guide for actors, acting students, directors and teachers who want to apply the work of influential theatre practitioner, Stanislavsky, to the process of rehearsing and workshopping Shakespeare’s play texts. Acting...

Romeo and Juliet always use ‘thou’ to each other, but they are the only pair of lovers in Shakespeare to do this. Why? All the women in Richard III address Richard as ‘thou’, but no man ever does. Why? When characters address the dead, they use ‘thou’ – except for Hamlet, who addresses Yorick as ‘you’. Why? Shakespeare’s contemporaries would...