I recently joined a Shakepeare youth theater group and the cold readings are KILLING ME! Help?

Question

I joined the theater group because I had seen their productions and loved their seriousness. But this is my first time really working with Shakespeare's (amazing but torturous) dialog. Every time they hand me something for cold reading I make an idiot of myself! I've never had trouble with cold reading before. Any help would be extremely appreciated! :)

Answer 1

well, Lady D offers a little help. but the main thing is that you do not get thrown by the fact that the lines are mostly iambic pentameter, follow the punctuation, it is the key to the phrasing and meaning. speak the lines simply, Shakespeare writes modern English with a few archaric expressions such as fie, etc.  Read more Shakespeare at home, learn the meanings of any strange words. Practice reading long speeches aloud until they make sense and are easy for you to say. If there are two lines that rhyme, go ahead and let them rhyme as though the character makes the rhyme on purpose.  Have fun, relax, if you need help, ask the director, that is what he or she is for. Do not ask the other actors, that is unprofessional.

Answer 2

Shakespeare is really hard. (he is a great writer but his plays are my least favorite.) You just have to get used to his style of writing

Answer 3

Yes.  Shakespeare can be hard, but you definately wouldn't be thought less of if you ask for help from those around you. No one (and I mean no one) gets Shakespeare right off the bat.  Most people who perform it regularly have to study up on it.  I've performed a few Shakespeare shows (doing Romeo and Juliet right now) and here are some hints I can give you.

Familarize yourself with Shakespeare's style:  Read all you can about his plots and characters.  Many of his plays (especially his comedies) have lots of things in common.  When he found a gag, he stuck with it.

Learn about his life and times:  knowing what was going on in England at the time is a BIG help.

Read his plays:  They may be hard to understand, but like I said everyone has a hard time at first.  The best resource I've found is http://nfs.sparknotes.com  It has the Elizabethan English side by side with modern Engish.  It helps LOADS when trying to "get" all the puns and metaphors.

Remember Pentameter:  I once participated in a Shakespeare workshop and they had us say only the stressed words in the iambic pentameter phrase. Shakespeare really does make it easy for you to get the meaning if you try to stress the words properly.  It doesn't ALWAYS work, but it's a neat trick.

Watch your fellow actors and see it performed:  Shakespeare was written to be performed!!  Nothing compares to seeing it!

Hope this helps you.  If you have any questions, you can feel free to e-mail me.  The link is on my profile.