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From Word to Play: A Handbook for Directors

A Handbook for Directors
Series: Oberon Books
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
From Word to Play offers a practical guide for theatre directors seeking to unlock the inherent rhythm and sound within scripts, whether classical or contemporary. Drawing on Cicely Berry's extensive experience as the Royal Shakespeare Company's Voice Director, the book advocates for reconnecting with the language itself, moving beyond over-literal interpretations to reveal deeper meaning. It includes clear rehearsal strategies to shape both verse and prose productions.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$8500

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for theatre directors, actors, voice coaches, and students of drama interested in enhancing vocal delivery and interpretation of plays across genres and periods.

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An invaluable guide for theatre directors, as well as an enlightening read for anyone interested in theatre.

An invaluable guide for theatre directors, as well as an enlightening read for anyone interested in theatre.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

There is a mystery in every play that is written, no matter whether classical and poetic or modern and demotic, and it is the sound and the rhythm of the writing which take us there.

Cicely Berry, the Royal Shakespeare Company's Voice Director, has been working alongside some of Britain's greatest actors and directors for over fifty years and is widely regarded as one of the most significant voice teachers in the world.

From Word to Play draws on Cicely's extensive experience of working with theatre companies in Britain and throughout the world. It is her manifesto for a return to the words themselves: for moving away from an over-conceptualised, over-literal view of language and rediscovering the meaning in its sounds and rhythms. At the heart of this book is a concise, practical guide for directors in rehearsal, setting out work strategies that help bring out both the shape and the details within all kinds of textβ€”whether verse or prose, seventeenth-century or contemporary.

With a Foreword by Michael Boyd, Artistic Director of the RSC.

Series: Oberon Books

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  • From Word to Play: A Handbook for Directors
    There is a mystery in every play that is written, no matter whether classical and poetic or modern and demotic, and it is the sound and the rhythm of the writing which take us there. Cicely Berry, the Royal Shakespeare Company's Voice Director, has been working alongside some of Britain's greatest actors and directors for over fifty years and is...
    Paperback
    $8500
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Peter Brook praises Cicely Berry's work for its focus on awakening an actor's natural instincts, emphasising her approach offers precise exercises and understanding to free performers from societal conditioning and attain truthful spontaneity on stage.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781840026016

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 31 January 2007

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Oberon Books Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 155.0mm

Height: 231.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 184

About the Author

Cicely Berry O.B.E is Voice Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and is renowned in her work as a voice and text coach, having spent many years as an instructor at London's Central School of Speech and Drama.

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