Shakespeare For American Actors And Directors (Softcover Book)

Fear grips many American actors and directors faced with the opportunityto perform Shakespeare live. The challenges of Elizabethan British spee ch patterns, the thought of using verse for hours, the debate over staging a period piece versus updating the Bard of Avon ;all can cause psychogenic trauma on this side of the Atlantic.L et Broadway legend Aaron Frankel show the way in Shakespeare for American Actors and Directors. This book views Shakespeare's work through the lens of American performance, catering specifically to the learning sensibilities of American-bred talent. Its streamlined size and reader-friendly presentation make it a practical tool for actors and directorswishing to learn Bard-based performance tactics.Aaron Frankel p lunges readers into the meanings of scenes so they can envision the interplay of characters and step into a role to experiment with ways to convey those meanings. He provides scene examples through which to apply performance techniques.To capture the spirit of the book in Frankel's words, What is totally current is that Shakespeare's dramatic forte, which is the involvement of his characters with each other, and the core of American acting, which is actors affecting each other, make aperfect match.