Table of Contents
Prologue
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Scholarly or Theatrical | Comparison/Contrast between Scholarly and Theatrical approaches to Shakespeare |
| The Tricky Notion of Interpretation | Comparison/Contrast between Scholarly and Theatrical approaches to Shakespeare |
| The Meaning of Subtext | The distinction between the scholarly and the performative meaning of "subtext" |
Speak the Speech, I Pray You
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Hamlet's Speech to the Players | Shakespeare's only explicit writing on how his plays should be performed |
| Deviation from Iambic Pentameter | How and why Shakespeare deviates from iambic pentameter |
| Demonstrating Iambic Pentameter | A Demonstration of the Rules of Verse Scansion using Benvolio's Speech in R&J |
| How Scansion Works | A description of how verse scansion works, and how it informs performance |
| Antithesis | A description of what an "antithesis" is. |
| "Bottom of Gas Tanks" | An explanation of the term "bottom of gas tanks" and its implications in verse performance |
| Breath and Memory | An exploration of the relationship between breath and memory |
| Breathing at the End of the Verse Line | An examination of whether an actor should feel obligated to breathe at the end of the line |
| How Verse Shapes Performance | How using the verse can shape the actor's performance |
Advice to the Players
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Posture and Alignment | A discussion about the importance of physical posture and alignment in performance |
| Autocriticism | Advice regarding excessive self-criticism |
| What Comes First - Interpretation or Rehearsal? | An examination of whether interpretation should precede or follow the rehearsal process |
| Transferrable Skills | How techniques learned from verse drama can be transferred to contemporary plays |
| Performance Energy As Qi | The equation of performance energy to the Chinese medical concept of Qi (Chi) |
| Breathing, Pace, and Speed | A distinction made between taking the time to breathe fully and pausing too long in the text |
Full fathom five
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| A Long Sample Rehearsal - Romeo and Juliet (Aubade) | Act 3, Scene 5 (22 minutes) |
| A Long Sample Rehearsal - A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lovers Quarrel) | Act 3, Scene 2 (31 minutes) |
| A First Attempt - Two Gentlemen of Verona | Julia's ring soliloquy (4 minutes) |
| A Long Sample Rehearsal - Richard III | "Was ever woman in this humor wooed?" Act 1, Scene 2 (51 minutes) |
| A Long Sample Rehearsal - Richard II (Tower Speech) | Act 5, Scene 5 (12 minutes) |
The Play's the Thing
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| A Performance from Macbeth | Act 1, Scene 7 - "Was the hope drunk wherin you dressed yourself?" |
| A Performance from Taming of the Shrew | Act 2, Scene 1 - "For I am he am born to tame you, Kate" |
| A Performance from Twelfth Night | Act 1, Scene 5 - "Make me a willow cabin at your gate" |
| A Performance from Pericles | Act 4, Scene 3 - "It pierced me through" |
| A Performance from As You Like It | Act 3, Scene 2 - "Tongues I'll hang on every tree" |
| A Performance of Richard II | Act 5, Scene 5 - "I have been studying how I may compare this prison where I live unto the world" (Tower Speech) |