perhaps you just haven't seen a good production of shakespeare or maybe you haven't met the right teacher??? then again im not a big fan of chekov, so maybe it's just not your thing!

but he that dares not grasp the thorn,
should never crave the rose.
Anne Bronte "The Narrow Way"

Ah... coming out of VCA i am now considering auditioning for the other schools, perhaps im masochistic. I can find shakespear difficult to perform, but like anything when you find the character and the play in the story and all that jazz. its just like performing anything contemporary except with a bit more rythm. Well... thats what i found anyway.

i think ill use one of my own and two from the book for nida. And the two from waapa. its such a fine time of year for all...

"He that dares not grasp the thorn,
Should never crave the rose" very true statement but I also think that you can grow to love Shakespeare. I believe you can because I did. I once did not like the language but when I saw more productions and read more Shakespeare books I began to understand the flow and poetic language. It helps a little when you research the Shakespeare story before you watch a Shakespearian theatre production. When you know the storyline it makes a little more sense.

Knowledge is power

Nelio Henriques Sam
Actor/Director

Ha, yeah you'll learn to love shakespeare if you're headed to drama school! ANd if not, you're in trouble!

Shakespeare can always be daunting for those who haven't had to grapple with him on a regular basis. I had a fantastic Shakespeare teacher at drama school, who demystified the whole language thing beautifully. Basically, the theory goes, if Shakespeare was alive today, he'd be writing the latest Hollywood blockbuster and would probably have earned his stripes writing for television first (I guess it helped that I trained in England, they are less reverent about Shakespeare in drama school there - at least, my school was!).

Just remember he was writing commercial works for the current market - it just happens that the common language at the time was Old English. If you get really stuck, try translating the text into contemporary English to get the meaning - that is always a good place to start. Once you understand what he's saying, reverting back to the Old English language shouldn't be such a chore or mystery. There are several excellent books on Shakespeare's language and what his words mean that you should be able to get (or at least order) from any good book shop. Alternatively, try to find some at your local library.

Remember that he was writing about all the huge "high concept" themes - love, war, hate, jealousy, revenge, rivalry, etc, etc. Once you get past the language, the text is quite amazing to play.

And good luck with your auditions!

Sally McLean
Incognita Enterprises &
Acting Up Drama Classes
http://www.salmac.com/masterclasses/

Shakespeare wrote in modern English. That's right boys and girls the same language that you slaughter every day at home. Some of the words have shifted in meaning some have disappeared and some are spelt or peronounced differently. Rules of grammar have changed and are continuing but it's modern english. Oh and the version before featuring Chaucer is called middle english. Old English is a germanic language from the period of saxon colonisation of Britain.
Life's too short to stuff a mushroom
www.tonymoore.id.au

Hey Logos,

Thanks for clarifying that - couldn't have put it better myself. And you've just put up on the site exactly what I say in my Shakespeare classes!! I only use the term "Old English" not in it's correct historical sense, but as a way to try and differenciate between what was the common language in Elizabethan times as opposed to the language (which includes phrasing and meaning of words and sentences) as we use it today. I should have been more pedantic with my explanation, for which I apologise. In my experience, most young actors look at you askance when you try to tell them that Shakespeare basically invented modern English (he did, after all, invent a lot of new words in his text that weren't even in use during his time) and what we speak today as "English" has its roots in and a direct association with what he wrote all those hundreds of years ago. However, there are still a few words and phrases he used that are no longer in use in our contemporary/modern version of the language - or at least not with the meaning they had back then. And some spellings of words have changed as well, of course.

I humbly apologise for my lack of proper and correct attention to relaying the facts as I should have. Through my incorrect use of the term "Old English", it would appear that "I am as full of mischief as an egg is of meat" as the Elizabethans would say ...

Sally McLean
Incognita Enterprises &
Acting Up Drama Classes
http://www.salmac.com/masterclasses/

I sound a bit over pedantic but I do stress to my students that we speak the same language as Shakespeare and that it is easy to understand if you can keep an open mind and explore the lnaguage verbally. Speak it out loud and listen.
Why did we keep fortnight and not sennight.
My favourite english language story is
:
Charles II of England was shown Christopher Wrenn's model of the magnificant St Paul's Cathedral designed to replace the one burnt down in the great fire of 1666. He looked for a while and then said "It is awefull, pompous and artificial." Wrenn didn't open a vein, it was a compliment he meant Awefull (full of awe) pompous (inspiring pomp) and artificial (a great work of artifice).
Just keep your students loving Shakespeare and you're all right in my book.

Life's too short to stuff a mushroom
www.tonymoore.id.au