Clues to Acting Shakespeare
Clues to Acting Shakespeare
Reprinted by permission of Vasta Journal, second
edition, 2001. Vasta Journal is the publication of the professional
Voice and Speech Trainers Association, Inc., presented by the Voice and Speech
Review, ISBN 1-55783-497-0.
Teaching Shakespeare Language Skills
by Wesley Van Tassel
As teachers of voice,
speech, and acting Shakespeare, we often find that today's media-oriented
student actors love to rely on "natural talent." When it comes to
heightened text, relying on technique would be better. Our students are
not prepared to accept this idea, because they have spent their lives watching
a plethora of actors untrained in voice or language skills being paid large
sums of money to work on video and film. By teaching certain language skills,
however, our students may gain a new appreciation for technique.
The exercises for teaching four introductory skills are presented in
this article. These skills are not intended to deal with the depth of
Shakespeare’s text, but with the acquisition of techniques that instill
confidence and will aid the student with the eventual plunge into those depths.
Among the fifteen or so speaking and analysis skills most of us teach, these
four can form the foundation for a student's methodology for dealing with
Shakespeare and other examples of heightened text.
Because students begin to forget what they have learned in voice,
speech, or acting Shakespeare the minute they complete the class and move on,
we look for techniques that promote retention. While the approach suggested
here is but one among many, it has met with some success. Teachers from high
school through college who have used the approach have reported that, when
taught first, this basic skill set appears to be the last forgotten.
The four skills suggested here are (1) end of line support, (2)
scansion, (3) phrasing, and (4) breathing, practiced in that order. Working
with these four skills first is not to suggest that the others will be ignored.
We must begin somewhere and this procedure builds confidence; then other
skills, like antithesis and imagery, are introduced as needed -- which is often
quite soon.
Concentration on this skill set provides an added benefit: once
learned, these basic skills improve the actor's work (professional or amateur)
with all language--heightened text or realism--and all voice work.
In the following examples, much is abbreviated for space, but each
teacher can supplement according to his or her experience, or consult the
complete book from which some of the material is excerpted.
***********
Working with the exercises
Each student is asked to select material on which to practice the
skills--a ten to twelve line monologue in verse and a sonnet will do. Before
introducing the skills, however, each student is asked to read their material
aloud without awareness of what is to come. In this way, the group is familiar
with the raw beginning point for each monologue and sonnet.
Introduce the first skill set:
(1) end of line support --
stress the final word in the verse line;
(2) scansion -- emphasize the stressed words or syllables;
(3) phrasing -- separate the thoughts;
(4) breathing -- use the punctuation as a guide.
Assure the students that each of these skills will be practiced
individually, then all four will be applied to their monologues and sonnets. At
that time they may hear a remarkable change from the first reading and may then
be ready for more advanced text and analysis study. Explain that "character
study," which they are eager to begin, follows, it does not precede this
effort. These early sessions offer a good opportunity for the coach to
discourage the student from rushing to character choices. The skills required
to speak the text must be learned first or the character may sound like the
first readings of the monologues and sonnets. They are encouraged to wait and
compare.
First Skill--End of Line Support. Stress the final word in the verse
line. They can develop this technique by "kicking the box," an
exercise explained below. The end of the blank verse line is usually more
important than the beginning or middle. When reading Shakespeare aloud, place a
slight stress on the end of the line--including both the final phrase and final
word--and notice the sudden clarity. This speaking style is dramatically
opposed to the modern tendency to allow lines to fade away, like songs without
endings.
Here are two examples. The first is Portia speaking to Shylock in the
courtroom scene of The Merchant of Venice.
Portia: The quality of mercy is not strained, (IV, i)*
Have students read the line aloud and let the second phrase
"is not strained" fall away so it is barely heard. When read that
way, the line seems to be about something called mercy and something else that
we aren't quite sure about. [When clarifying this and all of the following
examples, first attempt to solicit these observations from the group, and then
reiterate or add clarification.]
Now ask the students to read the line aloud a second time and support
the second phrase "is not strained" with equal or more power than
they gave the first phrase "The quality of mercy". After hearing some
examples, remind them that the final word "strained" needs its own
emphasis. Have the line read again. What is the line about? Now it is about a
quality called mercy that is not obtained by straining at it. Now the line
makes sense and opens the listener's mind to various possibilities.
Romeo has this response to Friar Laurence's counseling.
Romeo: Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel. (Rom,
III, iii)
Have the students read the line aloud and allow the final word
"feel" to drop away. What is the line about? Romeo is telling the
Friar he can't speak. Now have them read the line aloud again and support the
word "feel." What is the line about? Romeo may be telling the Friar,
who is presumed celibate, that he has never known the love of a woman, so how
can he counsel? Following this exercise the students may find that the line is
now rich with possibilities.
Try the "kick the box" exercise. Ask the students to select
a few regular blank verse lines (ten syllables each) from their monologues,
then place a cardboard box on the floor in front of them. One at a time, have
them read some lines and kick the box on the final syllable of each line. Kick
on exactly the final syllable. Working with their monologues, some of the
students may be uncertain when to kick. At this point, have everyone take the
time to work on the two examples noted above, then return to their monologues.
Using Romeo's line, don't kick on "not" and don't kick after
"feel." Kick on the "f" of "feel." Have all
students practice with the Romeo line then with Portia's line, kicking on the
"s" of "strained."
By practicing this skill, the student may discover that supporting the
final word through use of the diaphragm--which they can feel "kick
in" when they "kick the box"-- becomes second nature. They may
notice that the other students listen to them. Have them practice this skill on
each line of their sonnet and monologue until they support the final words
without having to actually "kick the box." "Kicking the
box," however, has allowed each student to discover (1) a method of
putting physical energy into line readings, (2) a procedure for involving the
entire body, and (3) a technique for supporting the end of the verse line.
**********
The second skill the acting or voice coach may want to focus on is
scansion. The opportunity to explain blank verse and the method by which it can
be scanned, with feet separated and syllables marked stressed or unstressed, is
now presented. It is our intention to help the student place emphasis on
stressed syllables and identify irregular lines. Blank verse--which is a
form of writing the English language in ten-syllable lines, not necessarily
rhyming--has a specific rhythm which identifies the important words. Each pair
of syllables creates one foot. So the regular blank verse line has five feet.
Each regular foot has a soft stress and a hard stress. Ask each student to
consider his/her own foot; the heel is soft and the ball is hard. Have them
walk and call out the rhythm--soft/hard, soft/hard, soft/hard, etc. In blank
verse, its dee dum, dee dum, dee dum, dee dum, dee dum--five feet, five soft
stresses, five hard stresses, one blank verse line. Have the students walk
around and change "soft/hard" to "dee dum, dee dum, dee
dum."
Most scholars and stage directors agree that blank verse is the
closest written statement of English speech. Illustrate for the students how,
without realizing it, we find ourselves speaking blank verse quite
spontaneously. For example--"What would you like to do this afternoon?
Let's go to town and buy and ice cream cone."--are two lines of blank
verse! Ask the students to speak in blank verse for awhile, and to write out a
few blank verse lines of their own. After working the following examples, have
the students put some of their blank verse lines on the board and check them
for scansion problems.
Breaking a blank verse line into feet and marking the stresses is
called scanning the line, or scansion. Here is Romeo gazing at Juliet's
balcony. Write this line on the board:
Romeo: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? (Rom,
II, ii)
Break the line into five feet, two syllables per foot:
But soft! / What light / through yon / der win / dow breaks?
Now mark the stresses, u for soft, / for hard:
But soft! What light through yon der win dow breaks?
Have the students read the
line aloud, stressing the hard syllables "soft", "light",
"yon", "win", "breaks." Illustrate how, with the
hand, one can beat out these stressed words or syllables on the table or chair
while reading the line aloud. Have them do this three or four times. Now ask
the students to forget scansion and read the line naturally. After these
readings, point out the slight emphasis that was still given to the stressed
words, even without the intentional effort. Our goal is to achieve naturalness
and honesty while stressing the correct words. By not achieving this goal, we
unintentionally disguise the meaning of the line. To prove this point, have the
students read the line aloud and emphasize the soft syllables "But",
"What", "through", "der", "dow". All
should notice the problem.
As Shakespeare’s verse is written in this regular dee dum, dee dum
rhythm with effects achieved by use of irregular lines, the coach may want the
students to identify some irregular lines in either their sonnet or monologue.
Encourage them to seek a stressed syllable that is in the unstressed position,
which is an example of breaking the rhythm, or an eleventh syllable, a dee
without a dum, which is an example of a feminine ending. One might start by
putting the following example on the board, then have the students find similar
examples in their own material. The rhythm is broken in the opening speech of Romeo
and Juliet.
Chorus: Two households, both alike in dignity
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge, break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. (Rom, Prologue)
Lines 1, 2, and 4 are regular blank verse lines, but notice line 3.
First, separate the line into feet:
From an / cient grudge / break to / new mut / in y,
In the third foot, the verb "break" (in the non-stressed
position) is more important than the preposition "to" (in the
stressed position). The stress in that foot is inverted--called a trochee-- and
the actor must read accordingly. Have the students read the line both ways,
first emphasizing "to", then emphasizing "break". They may
hear the importance of "break". To recognize inverted feet, active
verbs are always good clues. Also, irregular stresses often occur in the first
or third foot of the verse line. Together with these clues, scansion practice
and use of common sense are important.
Hopefully, some students will argue that, in line 1, "Two"
is as important as "house". That emphasis is an actor choice, but
could be a good one because it clarifies the number of families involved in the
fray. Lines often have three or more stresses back to back (it can be argued
that some lines have ten stressed syllables), as this line has "Two",
"house" and "holds", all of which can be stressed. Note
that in the fourth foot of line 3 a student may argue that "new"
breaks the rhythm and is as important as "mut". That is a good
argument, because it points out that an earlier mutiny is starting over again.
Encourage these discoveries, review basic scansion, then have the students find
other examples of irregular rhythm.
In their monologue or sonnet, some students will have discovered lines
with too many syllables. Writing the most famous line in Shakespeare on the
board, we can illustrate how to handle the added syllable--the dee without the
dum--as Hamlet contemplates action.
Hamlet: To be, or not to be--that is the question:
(Ham, III, i)
The line scans like this:
To be, / or not / to be-- / that is / the ques / tion:
This line has eleven
syllables and calls for a soft, or feminine ending. The feminine ending, used
throughout Shakespeare, allows a line to end without a stressed syllable. Have
a student "kick the box" on "ques"--not on
"tion." Then have the student "kick the box" on
"tion" instead. They should hear the problem. By allowing "tion"
to just be there without emphasis, the line is given a soft ending. When
scanning a blank verse line, when it doesn't work out to ten syllables and five
feet, you're probably, but not necessarily, looking at a feminine ending.
Students may ask, what if you're not?
Write the following Hamlet line on the board, or select a similar line
suggested by one of the students. Illustrate how one can count eleven or twelve
syllables in a blank verse line and then discover that the final syllable must be
stressed. In this case, you cannot use the feminine ending. You will need to
introduce elision here, but point out that it will have a more detailed study
later, as it is one of the other skills but not part of the first set.
In the following eleven-syllable line, Shakespeare has already elided
a two-syllable word into one syllable, but the actor must elide another word,
as "man" is stressed and would not make a feminine ending.
Hamlet: Horatio, thou art e'en as just a
man. (Ham, III, ii)
The students will note "even" is already elided to
"e'en" and pronounced as one syllable. Let them discover that the
actor must elide "Horatio" to "Horat'o", pronounced as
three syllables. Now the line can be spoken in ten syllables with correct
rhythm.
Hor a / t'o, thou / art e'en / as just / a man.
Have the students return to
their sonnets and monologues to search for regular lines, inverted stresses,
feminine endings, and places where elision must be used. Have them clearly mark
on their text all of these clues to speaking the verse.
**********
In addition to supporting the end of the line and scanning for
emphasis we now add skill number three, phrasing, or separating the thoughts.
This is a good time to illustrate that all blank verse lines can be divided
into phrases. Each phrase is a thought, and if the students run the thoughts
together, the listener will get lost.
Many phrases are separated by punctuation points. When there is no
punctuation, separating each phrase with a slight pause is a good
identification exercise. This pause is called a caesura (si-zhoor-e), meaning a
sense pause (marked //). This is not a breath pause; it ís much shorter. It is
just a slight pause which allows the ear to place emphasis on the phrase or
word you just said or are about to say. Put the following lines on the board
and work out the phrasing with the students.
Here, broken into phrases, is Brutus' answer to Cassius who has
mentioned that Caesar has grown too powerful. Some phrases are already
identified by punctuation, so caesuras are not inserted.
Brutus: What you have said //
I will consider; what you have to say //
I will with patience hear; and find a time //
Both meet to hear and answer // such high things.
Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this:
Brutus had rather be a villager //
Than to repute himself a son of Rome //
Under these hard conditions // as this time
Is like to lay upon us. (JC, I, ii.)
Work on the speech by reading it aloud a number of times, separating
the thoughts as marked (some actors prefer to circle the phrases), then
instruct the students to forget the marks and read the speech naturally. Remind
them to support the final words of each line. In this reading, they may
discover that, having identified the phrases, individuality is given to each
thought, even when they are not trying to do so. (When using this example, take
the opportunity to explain that the final line is called a short line, meaning
that either a pause sufficient to complete the ten-syllable rhythm is intended,
or the line is finished by the next speaker. In this case, Cassius finishes the
line with "I am glad" to make ten syllables.)
If you sense that the students are interested in additional phrasing
work, introduce antithesis here, although it is itself a skill and will need
more time later. Suggest that there is another way to refine the phrasing
skill, and that is to locate the antithetical words, phrases, or thoughts in
each speech and stress them. Antithesis, the placing of one idea against its
opposite, is used frequently in Shakespeare: i.e. "to be" (one
thought), "or not to be" (the opposite thought). (Webster's example
is "Give me liberty or give me death.")
Refer to the Brutus speech which is on the board and help the students
dig out the antithesis. Discover that "I have said" is antithetical
to "have to say," "hear" and "answer" are
antithetical, also "consider" and "answer."
"villager" and "son of Rome", and "be" and
"repute" are antithetical. Also, the thought in the first four lines
(I hear what you have to say and will think about it) is antithetical to the
thought in the next five lines (I don't want to talk now, but I hate the current
conditions). After the antithesis has been marked in the speech, have the
students read it again, this time emphasizing all antithetical words, phrases,
or thoughts. They might discover how learning and practicing this skill can
produce greater clarity.
Have the students identify and mark all antithetical words, phrases or
thoughts in their monologues and sonnets, along with all phrases. Emphasize
that, if, during rehearsals or early preparation, the caesura is used to
separate phrases, later, when the pauses are removed and the actor speaks
naturally, each phrase will have been embedded in the mind as an individual
thought.
**********
Adding to the above three skills--kicking the box, scanning the line,
and phrasing--now introduce the technique of breathing at punctuation points.
When reading Shakespeare, random breathing can destroy the sense of the line
because the misplaced pause for a breath fractures the thought.
Coaches, directors, and scholars have differing points of view about
the technique of breathing when reading verse. One reliable approach to teach
your students, although not the only one, is this: Breathe at the punctuation
points. Using the Brutus speech, illustrate why the actor does not breathe at
the end of a verse line simply because it ís the end of the line on paper. In
verse, many lines are enjambed--which means the line contains a thought that
continues to the next line without separation or punctuation; usually there is
no breath at the end of an enjambed line.
In Brutus' speech, only lines 4 and 5 actually end as printed on the
paper; line 9 is continued by Cassius. Lines 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 are enjambed.
There is a breath in the middle of line 3, at the ends of lines 4 and 5, and in
the middle of line 9. Have the students read the speech and practice breathing
only at the appropriate places.
Now write this next example on the board. Here, Macbeth, having killed
the king, contemplates killing his friend, Banquo.
Macbeth: To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus--
Our fears in Banquo stick deep,
And in his royalty of nature reigns that
Which would be feared. 'Tis much he dares;
And to that dauntless temper of his mind
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear; and under him
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Antony's was by Caesar. (Mac, III, i.)
This speech contains typical Shakespearean punctuation. The breathing
points are the punctuation marks. Have the students circle them, then read the
speech aloud and breathe at each mark. They will find that it is quite easy to
speak from one breathing point to the next,as the longest stretch is only two
and one-half lines. (In the previous Brutus speech, the longest stretch is
three and one-half lines.)
Encourage the students not to breathe after "Banquo" in line
2 (the end of a thought) or "that" in line 3 (the end of the enjambed
verse line on paper). Have them try it, however, to discover the problem for
themselves. Also, have them try breathing after "mind",
"valour", "he", "him", and "said".
Common sense and a developing ear may tell them that these choices are wrong
because the thought in each of these enjambed lines continues to the next line.
Have the students circle the breathing points in their monologues and
sonnets. They should understand that they are about ready to read their
material with all four new skills applied, and to hear how much the new reading
differs from the original reading of a few weeks ago. Remind them to always
rehearse aloud. If not, they probably won't be breathing correctly. Encourage
them to rehearse in a large area rather than a small bedroom. When working on
this material, they need to open up the voice and reach out to a selected focal
point--like a distant tree or a back row seat in a theatre. Praise them for
correcting themselves and repeating a line or lines whenever they realize
they've skipped a skill. Then, after sufficient rehearsal time, have the
students read their sonnets and monologues to the class. The group members will
probably point out to each other which skills have been successfully applied
and which need work.
Once a class begins working with these exercises, the student actors
may become student coaches of each other, because each member of the class has
learned what skills to listen for. Each student quickly realizes that he or she
can speak Shakespeare’s language without timidity. This success is a
significant confidence builder.
**********
My final suggestion may seem like an entirely new subject and not
related to the above four skills at all, but it is actually a companion skill
to each of these and all others we teach. By ignoring it, we can destroy the
learning process as it is happening. I am speaking about
"over-acting." When reading Shakespeare, it's natural for the student
to want to "act it out." Actors will often "enhance" the
language with sounds, gasps, crying, whispering, pauses for effect, sighs, and
ahs. Such enhancements tend to destroy the rhythm. When the rhythm is lost, the
thoughts and the audience are also lost.
Overriding blank verse with emotion because "my character would
do it this way" simply doesn't work. In this situation, the acting becomes
indulgent, because the actor has lost WHAT is being said in favor of HOW it is
being said. Generally the student will understand this direction: If you want
to cry, cry after the line not during the line. We must hear the words first,
then we can experience your sorrow without the irritation caused by a muffled
line.
Students trained in subtextual acting methods primarily to handle
realism often find it difficult to believe that the emotions needed by
Shakespeare’s characters are already written into the verse. Have some students
demonstrate what happens when emotions overpower this language. Have them try
screaming, moaning and crying their lines; then try adding unnecessary
subtextual ideas; then have someone apply "painted on" emotions like
"be jealous" or "be angry" or "be sarcastic"; and
try using a very slow tempo so the actor can "feel it." After
watching and hearing these examples, the students may arrive at some very
useful conclusions, especially this: If we are listening to the
"enhancements," we aren't listening to the words and, as Peter Brook
says, "Shakespeare goes on without you."
For teachers interested in more details about the skills presented
here and others, plus worksheets for younger students and additional teaching
material for all levels, information is available in my book Clues to Acting
Shakespeare (New York: Allworth, 2000).
***
Films and Videos: For examples of other actors using the same four
skills, and others, check out some of these films. A good list includes Hamlet
(Kenneth Branagh--some brilliant line readings), Hamlet (Mel Gibson), A
Midsummer Night's Dream (Kevin Kline), Much Ado About Nothing
(Branagh and Emma Thompson--wonderful duet scenes), Trevor Nunn's Twelfth
Night (Ben Kingsley, Nigel Hawthorne and others--some nearly perfect readings
of text), Romeo and Juliet (Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes--some
excellent examples of actors forgetting to use the basic skills), Romeo and
Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film with Olivia Hussey and Leonard
Whiting), Othello (Branagh and Laurence Fishburne), Henry V (Branagh--the
St. Crispian speech is a masterpiece worth studying), Richard III (Ian
McKellen), and the 1955 Richard III (Laurence Olivier). Films based on
Shakespeare’s plays, or life and times, include Shakespeare in Love (some
very clear examples of the basic skills in beautifully read language), Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are Dead, Prospero's Books (John Gielgud), Ran,
Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight (many excellent speeches read well),
Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost, and Al Pacino's Looking for Richard
(a contrast of trained and untrained speaking voices). All of Shakespeare’s
plays received solid or excellent BBC video productions between 1979 and 1984,
and are available in most libraries. Enjoy the Bard!
* All text is taken from the First Folio of
Shakespeare with some punctuation supplied by the author.