The first William Shakespeare play I read was Hamlet at secondary school. Sitting at a desk, picking apart each line of a monologue, trying to understand what they were talking about. And desperately hoping the teacher wouldn't pick me to read out-loud to the rest of the class. Needless to say, I wasn't a huge fan of Shakespeare back then.
Fast forward 20-odd years and I got the chance to play Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was one of the most exciting and interesting acting roles I've ever had the chance to perform.
This is how I learned to enjoy reading Shakespeare and how I approach performing it.
1) Start young.
The Royal Shakespeare Company introduces children as young as three to Shakespeare's work . Why?
Because they are still learning language. For a child, learning new words is a part of every day life and they accept the old English words as easily as anything else they hear.
As adults we fear Shakespeare because it feels like a foreign language
If you're an adult (and I'm assuming you are) and you've never seen or read a Shakespeare play, what can you do?
My first tip would be to start with The Sonnets. https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/sonnets/ As a child, I loved poetry and it's where my love of language began. The Sonnets are short poems (only 14 lines) and they look far less intimidating on the page. Reading and writing poetry taught me how to tell a story using as few words as possible. (Very useful when copywriting!)
I had read most of The Sonnets by the time I came to study Hamlet and was already familiar with Shakespeare's descriptive language, rhythm and use of imagery. It made the step up to his plays much easier.
2) Start with the comedies.
For a first play, start with one of the comedies.
Watch it instead of reading it, if you can.
Much Ado About Nothing is my personal favourite because it is (fairly) simple and straight-forward, the language is easier and it's shorter than many other Shakespeare plays. Kenneth Branagh's vibrant and sexy version is great and performed so well, I actually thought the text had been changed to make it easier to follow.
A lot of Shakespeare comedies feature physical comedy as well. A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night and As You Like It have plenty. For those who haven't got to grips with the language (and lets face it, that's most of us, right?), a good bit of slapstick goes a long way to keeping us engaged with the show. Even the tragedy and history plays have space for some comedy moments to lighten the mood.
These days I think Hamlet is a great play and arguably one of the best, but at school, it wasn't a great introduction for someone too young to understand most of its themes. We were lucky our teacher at the time fancied Mel Gibson, so we got to watch his film version a couple of times. See, it wasn't always miserable! (See below)
3) Watch lots and watch it live!
Shakespeare wrote plays, not novels and watching a great production of a Shakespeare play can open up a whole new world of understanding.
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre has become world renowned for it's lively and visceral presentations of Shakespeare's plays and groundling tickets make the price accessible too. I would definitely recommend watching one if you can and their midnight matinees are a unique experience. Look out for local amateur productions. Tickets are cheaper, but they are often very good and much better than just reading it.
As an adult, the BBC archives are a good resource for watching some outstanding acting. But going back to my school Hamlet experience, watching Mel Mad Max Gibson play Hamlet, felt far more relevant to the world I was living in as a teenager than Lawrence Olivier acting his socks off thirty years earlier. Is it a great adaptation of the play? Probably not. Half the text is missing and Hamlet's Mum is only about ten years older than him. Does it give a great overview of the story and the characters. Is it exciting and interesting? Absolutely. For that reason, I would recommend it as an introduction to the play. You can move on to the heavy versions later.
Film director Baz Luhrmann said he had little interest in Shakespeare until, he saw a production of Twelfth Night that completely changed his perception of the play. He then went on to create one of Hollywood's most original and insightful adaptations of Romeo and Juliet that reflected the time in which it was made. (Leonardo DiCaprio replacing Mel as the Hollywood heart-throb)
4) Get a copy of the play with a good synopsis and detailed footnotes.
When it comes to reading Shakespeare, footnotes are invaluable.
I have a copy of The Complete Works from the RSC, but there are many excellent texts out there
and it is just a matter of finding one that suits you.
Have a dictionary to hand, but don't analyse each and every word straight away. Try reading the whole sentence first and often, you'll be able to work out what it means, without ruining the rhythm of the line.
Nine times out of ten it will be a filthy, sexual reference anyway (now you're interested!) If you still can't understand, take a look at the footnotes and dictionary and read the whole sentence again.
5) Script analysis
Researching a Shakespeare play is just the same as any other text or contemporary play.
The world of the play, creating your character and learning the lines etc. will all make up part of your rehearsal process. I remember watching a post-show talk back with Penny Downey, who had just played a fantastic Gertrude to David Tennant's Hamlet. When asked what her favourite part of the production was, she replied "The first three weeks because that is when I find out what the hell the play is about!" I felt so much better after that.
The biggest thing I like to consider when reading a new script, is how differently people would have seen the world when it was written. Events like a total eclipse of the sun, now have a scientific explanation, but 400 years ago were seen as acts of God or the Devil.
Today, the three witches in Macbeth are a bit spooky; but back then many people would have believed in curses and dark magic. The audience should see the world through your character's eyes as well as their own if they are going to be engaged with the play.
6) Look for universal themes
It's no coincidence that many phrases we still use today are either directly quoting Shakespeare, or are words that he created. And that's because essentially, he wrote about human nature. Kings and paupers ask the same questions, suffer from jealously or greed and make fools of themselves in love.
Finding and exploring the themes in Shakespeare's plays makes them more relatable.
Breaking down the "noise" of the text into simple wants and needs for the characters helps me at the beginning of the process. I will never know what its like to find out my mother has murdered my father and married my uncle. But I do know what grief, betrayal and loneliness feel like.
7) Be curious
Shakespeare was an expert at choosing certain words deliberately and specifically.
Be curious and ask yourself why he chose that specific word or phrase.
For dramatic effect, rhythm, or some other reason?
When I was researching Helena, for A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of her speeches compares Hermia to a hawthorn. I asked myself why she (Shakespeare) chose that particular plant. A quick google of hawthorn told me that it only blossoms in May, setting the time of year for the audience.
More significantly, in Shakespeare's time, people believed that bringing a hawthorn into your house was bad luck and brought death. Helena thought that Hermia, once her best friend, had stolen Demetrius from her. This comparison to a hawthorn revealed a deeper level of bitterness in Helena that I was able to bring into the rest of the speech.
8) Performing a speech from Shakespeare
I'm not going to lie, there are no shortcuts for learning lines. There are a few techniques that can make it easier, but learning a Shakespeare monologue is hard. It's not much more difficult than learning any other text or speech and sometimes, it can be easier. Many of his plays are almost 80% poetry, so it's similar to learning song lyrics.
It's far easier to remember lines if you know exactly what your character is trying to say and why they are saying it.
The first thing I do (after all my script analysis above), is to write out my speech on lined paper, leaving a gap between each line. Then, using a different coloured pen, I write down how I would say that in my own words. Next, I say it out loud and try to hear the tone or inflection I use. Finally, I try saying the original words, but using my intention.
A lot of the time, I'm learning lines before going into full rehearsal. At that stage, I don't know what the director's vision of the show will be and my character is yet to be fully formed.
I try to learn the lines as neutral as possible and I use prompts. Cards with different intentions written on them like to intimidate, to seduce, to amuse. I then pick a prompt card at random and say the line with the intention that's written on it. This makes the learning process more repetitive, but less boring and gives me lots of options for my character when I get in to the rehearsal space.
9) There is no right or wrong way - enjoy it!
If you have done tip 3 above, you should now have seen many interpretations of Shakespeare plays. Everyone has their favourite actors and their favourite version of a play, but it's important to have your own approach to your Shakespeare role and not to just copy someone else.
Shakespeare gave very few stage directions in his plays, leaving the door open for actors and directors to inject their own personality and experience into their production.
The play might have been performed thousands of times, but not by you and not right now.
Many people are frightened because they think Shakespeare is too hard to understand, or boring or both. They are worried they might get it wrong or look silly. But remember, his plays were written for the general public, not for scholars, critics or academics.
There is no right or wrong way to perform - only your way.
The most exciting and challenging thing about acting in a Shakespeare play, is joining that long line of performers who have brought his work to life. And knowing that no-one else has done it quite like you. Enjoy yourself and your audience will too!
Make your Shakespeare fresh, fearless and enjoyable for yourself. And your audience will enjoy it too!
Useful Resources and links:
The Actor and the Text - Cicely Berry
The Complete Works - William Shakespeare
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