Pros: highly readable, insightful, knowledgeable, well-organized and presented
Cons: geared specifically towards working actors, especially Parts 1 and 5
The Bottom Line: Highly-respected voice coach guides you through the 'givens' and 'imaginative' aspects of the Bard's language, freeing your mind and voice to a deeper appreciation of Shakespearean prose and verse.
jc_hall's Full Review: Patsy Rodenburg - Speaking Shakespeare
Patsy Rodenburg, author of The Actor Speaks (a handbook for young aspiring actors), is the Director of Voice at London’s Royal National Theatre and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Recognised as one of the world’s leading voice and acting coaches, she is highly-respected among Shakespearean actors, some of whom (including Antony Sher, Dame Judi Dench, Richard Eyre, Ralph Fiennes, Trevor Nunn) contributed words of praise to Rodenburg at the beginning of Speaking Shakespeare.
The book is divided into 5 parts, of which Part 1: Foundation Craft (subdivided into Body, Breath, Support, Freeing The Voice, etc.) consists almost entirely of physical exercises which the actor must master before he or she can hope to deliver the Bard’s speeches with any conviction. For the non-actor, Part 1 makes interesting but not enthralling reading, and can be skimmed over at some speed.
Part 2: Structure is where Rodenburg explains ‘The Givens’—the ‘physical structures that shape the story and the sense, and organise the chaos of passion’. Basically, the ‘givens’ combine to give you the plot, characters, and background—i.e. the story itself.
Part 3: The Imaginative deals with ‘the imaginative exploration of the text, where imaginative connections are created by the words themselves, releasing the specific quality of the verse—the emotion, the image, the concrete detail of the world and the character’. In other words, we are considering the heightened circumstances that create different emotional responses and passions in the various characters.
As Rodenburg explains: ‘The givens move you and the audience forward, and clarify…The imaginative connects you vertically to the depths of language and engages you and the audience with passion.’ Essentially, these are two threads, ‘both of which have to be in place to serve the text’. Basically, the first gives you the story, and the second digs deep to find and release the emotional resonance. As Rodenburg says, ‘If you follow the first thread only, you will be clear but dry; follow only the second and you will be connected and passionate but make no sense. Weave them together and you will create the tapestry.’
Rodenburg laments the failure of young actors to understand the basics of Shakespearean language, and sees the need to include in Part 2 short chapters on the ‘givens’ that comprise the structure of a play, such elements as Alliteration, Assonance, Onomatopoeia, Rhythm, Pauses and Irregularities of Rhythm, The Line, The Structure of Scenes, Antithesis, Rhyme, Prose, Irony, Puns, Word games, Repetition, Soliloquy, etc. These are all clearly defined, the chapters are concise, and the examples are all drawn from the Bard’s plays or poems. She recommends close reading of the text, research to the point of the actors ‘owning’ their parts and encourages them to ‘mean every word as it is spoken, not before or after’. This last may sound simplistic, but try it on a speech or two and you will see how they come alive, even to the most casual reader.
Rodenburg calls this book a ‘simple manual to start the journey into the heart of Shakespeare’ and indeed, Speaking Shakespeare was developed as she worked with her students at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She has first-hand knowledge of the needs of young actors who are beginning to explore the Bard’s work and attempt to bring it to life for audiences. To do so, the actors must first master the physical aspects of breathing, freeing their voices to allow clear speech. Then they must fully understand the ‘givens’ before exploring the ‘imaginative’ aspect of the characters they play. She also gives practical advice on memorizing the speeches by ‘peopling’ them with the various characters invoked.
In Part 4: The Speeches, fully 17 speeches from the Bard’s plays are introduced, put into context, the givens dissected, and the (imaginative) heightened circumstances explored. The range is wide, from comedic speeches to darkly tragic ones, from the fantastical to the philosophical. Here, Rodenburg demonstrates her knowledge and insights, and even though you may not agree with her reading in one or two cases, you cannot help but admire her thoroughness and range with the rest.
Part 5: Checklists is basically a short reminder to the working actor of Preparation, The Givens and The Imaginative, in bullet form.
Even though Part 1 and Part 5 are purely for working actors, they can be skimmed over quite quickly by the casual reader. Parts 2-4, however, make for enthralling reading. Attention all Bard aficionados: Speaking Shakespeare will greatly increase your understanding of and appreciation for the Shakespearean language in all its beauty, strange and intricate.
Highly recommended for lovers of the Bard’s plays.
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