Shakespearean characterization : a guide for actors and students / Leslie O'Dell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Dell, Leslie.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Dramatic production.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Characters.

Acting.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (309 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024

Place of Publication:

Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Shakespeare's plays were written some four hundred years ago, and while his characters are enduring, they are also alien. In grappling with the text of his plays, the modern actor must bring Shakespeare's Renaissance characters to life for a modern audience. And while it is difficult enough for twentieth-century spectators to make sense of the plays, it is also hard for modern actors to understand the Elizabethan world that created the personalities so vividly sketched in Shakespeare's texts. This reference is a convenient and practical guide for actors faced with the task of playing Shakespeare's characters. The volume begins with an overview of Elizabethan theatrical conventions, including the training of actors. It then looks at the dramatic tradition of personification, which Shakespeare's world inherited from the medieval stage. Later chapters give special attention to how language reveals character and to the social and cultural contexts of the Renaissance. Throughout, the emphasis is on how to translate Shakespeare's text into action on the stage. While the volume contains much useful information, that information is presented to meet the special needs of theater professionals.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Preface

AN ACTOR'S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE'S CHARACTERS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CITATIONS

QUOTATIONS

CAPITALIZATIONS

FIRST FOLIO ERRORS

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SELF

LONG SPELLINGS

HE OR SHE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1 Bringing Shakespeare to the Modern Stage

AN ACTOR'S INSIGHTS

THE DEAD HAND OF TRADITION

LAZINESS

ANTI-METHOD

ROMANCE

UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU ARE SAYING

BRIDGES

2 The Conditions of Rehearsal and Performance

REHEARSING IN SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE

Training Actors in Shakespeare's Company

Rehearsing with Sides

3 Theatrical Conventions

ENACTING DEATH

Inopportune Laughter

SOLILOQUY AND ASIDE

RELATIONSHIPS

ENTRANCES AND EXITS

SHIFTING TIME AND PLACE

DOUBLING

4 The Theatrical Traditions of Personification

PLAYING PERSONIFICATIONS

PERSONIFICATION IN IMAGERY

Emblems

PSYCHOMACHIA REVISITED

And One Man in His Time Plays Many Parts

PERSONIFICATIONS AND ARCHETYPES

Playing an Archetypal Relationship

AN ACTOR WRITING FOR OTHER ACTORS

5 A Character's Language

EDUCATION

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

RHYTHMIC INDICATORS

COMPLEXITY OF THOUGHT, COMPLEXITY OF CHARACTER

EMOTION AND RHETORIC

PROSE VERSUS POETRY

WIT

6 Moving Metaphors

A CHARACTER'S LIFE STORY IN A WORD OR TWO

SHAKESPEARE'S LANGUAGE OF SENSE

Visualizing Images

Envisioning Metaphor

Imagery As Framework

7 The Power of the Word

THE MUSIC OF THE VOICE

The Speaking Voice

PURPLE PASSAGES

IRONIC DISTANCE

ANTIPOETRY

8 The Fallacy of Universality

SOCIAL HISTORY

Hypertext

HABITS OF MIND

Reflections

Elizabeth

Prefigures

The Famous of Athens and Rome

Biblical Allusions

Exploration: The Book of the Revelation

Antithesis

CLASS

Honorifics

A BAWDY PLANET

Dirty Bits

SILENCE

HUMORS.

The Humors Game

The Humors in the Text

THE LIMITATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM

Bibliography

General Index

Index of Plays and Characters

About the Author.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [277]-280) and indexes.

ISBN:

9798216014072

9786610708277

9781280708275

1280708271

9780313006968

0313006962

OCLC:

51389707