How do you speak when acting out Shakespeare?

Question

I'm auditioning for "as you like it" with a soliloquy from "Twelfth Night". Does anyone have any tips on speaking/acting out shakespeare???

Thanks.:)

Answer 1

I have a few suggestions for you. First, consider the intentions and obstacles of your character. Ask yourself, "What do I want? What stands in my way." This is an important factor to organic acting. Another important skill in naturalistic acting is the magic if. If you were this person under these circumstances, what would you do?

Shakespeare is written in prose, so there are a few important factors to consider. First, you need to speak through the lines, constraining your pauses only to the end of sentences. Don't pause at the end of each line, consider the meaning and sentence structure and work from there. It is important that you create clarity over all. Your words need to be crisp and clear, well enunciated and loud. Do not cloud your words with too much motion. Actions speak louder than words, so let all of your crosses be intentional. Don't make half-crosses or unintentional movement.

Don't speak in an accent. The RP or "Queen's English" that we know today did not exist in Shakespeare's time. The accepted convention is to speak in your native dialect, which I will assume is standard American English. Be confident, move with intention. You'll be great.

Answer 2

Make sure you REALLY understand the meaning behind the words. Then they'll make sense.  For instance, with Richard III, the opening soliloquy is him saying, we've had a bad time, but got through it relatively unscathered, thanks to me; let's get on with what's coming up in my life as your ruler.

I'm being fairly liberal with my interpretation, but you catch the gist of it, I hope. Then go for syntax, iambic pentameter, etc.

Answer 3

Know what the monologue means.  No Fear Shakespeare is a great resource if you can't figure it out on your own.

Speak normally.  If they passage rhymes at any point don't make an effort to point out the fact that it rhymes.   Good Shakespeare really just sounds like your talking to someone normally.  Bad Shakespeare sounds like on old English person saying things very loftily that they obviously don't understand.

Do NOT pause at the end of each line unless there is punctuation marking.  Yes this is verse but don't make it sound like a giant poem it is after all still a play and not a poem.

Like with any monologue, understand why your character must say this and say it right now.  There's always a reason.  What do they want to accomplish.  What is their inner struggle.

Know the character as a whole.  So if you don't know the play already read it and understand it.

Pronunciation tip: remember that in Shakespeare's time things ending with "ed" the e is pronounced unless it is substituted by on apostrophe.  Banished is pronounced Ba-ni-shed rather than Ban-isht

Ay or Aye is pronounced like a long I as in pie not a long a as in pay.

That's all off the top of my head