Introducting Shakespearean Text

Also every actor at some point in there acting career will have to perform a Shakespeare monologue. At first this can seem very daunting as the text of Shakespeare opens up a whole new understanding and meaning but also language of acting. It requires understanding and indeapth research into the era and contextual context in order to portray a successful performance.

To succeed you have to understand whats happening , what your saying and convey that understanding to the audience. In addition you must be able to create a vivid character and dynamic blocking choices. This may appear to be a lot of work for a monologue of 1-2 minutes but the outcome will be appropriate and effective.

The Text

When working on Shakespeare monologues you are going to have to focus on doing some language work. This allows the actor to create an understanding of the text being spoken.

There are some exercises which are effective for enhancing this understanding of the language:

•  Define unfamiliar words- Doing this process allows the actor to understand words in the monologue which initially they may not of understand. The actor needs to identify and define every word in the monologue. Shakespeare uses many words which do not have the same meaning as they do today.
• Translate lines into modern English- Translation is very important when an actor is first introduced to a Shakespearean monologue. This allows you to understand exactly what you are saying and keep the translation in your head as you speak the Shakespearean words! This therefor help you have more of an understanding of the way the words need to be spoken...whether with anger,frustration, sadness, sorrow, joy...