Rehearsal
Shakespeare Out Loud Teachers - My intention in creating this series was to encourage young people to practice 12 vacuumed plays of Shakespeare, out loud. This practice and refinement of accessible Shakespearean texts, teaches the stories clearly, and allows students to play with some of the most creative dramatic language ever written. If the new vocabulary and syntax is encouraged to be invented rather than recited, like everyday speech, not only will it be acted well, but it will become much more likely to be remembered and re-used.
A significant portion of each class should be oral, not just listening to the teacher, but the students, orally playing and refining the parts out loud. They cannot do this with unabridged texts. They will also not fully understand even brilliant unabridged readings by professionals. Do you? Sometimes the text is just too dense, and almost always cut.
Get them to practice parts of my vacuumed series. Assign readings early so students have time to practice. Cast creatively. I believe that providing paper scripts, so the young actors may jot down, and remember, their notes, helps them build clear and nuanced oral performances.
Concentrate, at first, on why characters say what they do, why they choose each w0rd. Keep refining and orally practicing the thoughts that cause the words, and the plays will teach themselves. Productions will also block themselves through oral understanding and practice: the feet are easy to organize when the minds are clear. Also, accept that rhythm is a literary concept rarely discussed and never practised in professional rehearsals. Skilled actors make their text sound like heightened and invented everyday speech. That is why I formatted the words of Shakespeare not in prose or verse, but in thoughts; and why students and actors play them so readily.
Shall I be honest?
As a professional actor I was blessed with several world class teachers and many world class fellow-actors. I am the only actor who performed with Maggie Smith in all 5 Shakespearean productions directed by the great Robin Phillips at Stratford, Ontario, from 1978 to 1981. I also played Edgar in Peter Ustinov’s King Lear in 1980 and 1981. All these productions were abridged; all were judged world class. They all sold out to huge audiences. Been there, done that, and watched and listened to it all very keenly.
By vacuuming Shakespeare, which happens in all professional productions and films; then formatting what is left as thoughts, the text becomes much more immediately comprehensible and playable. Young people are less likely to be halted by so much obscure vocabulary, or nonsensical punctuation, like the capitals that begin each line of verse.
I also contend that weighing down teenagers with what you know about Elizabethan history and Shakespeare is a waste of their time. It is blah, blah, blah, and there are large libraries crammed full of it. Scholars write long books unearthing Elizabethan minutiae to pay off their mortgages. Since we have so few facts about Shakespeare’s life, drawing conclusions about it, from his plays, produces numerous volumes almost every year. To high school students, who cares? AI can condense it all to 15 minutes of reading. Encouraging students to bring Shakespeare’s characters to life with their imaginations, readings and performances is where the truly nutritious learning lies. If you, as a teacher, lack the confidence to direct readings, I’ll wager that there are students in your class who’d like a go. I have worked with several truly world class directors and they have all been great listeners. They’d listen for, and shape, thought from their actors. They’d direct mainly through the use of their ears! Robin Phillips would use at least 1/2 of rehearsal time, sometimes as much as 4 weeks, sitting around a table. We stood up when we knew where we might go. I never heard Maggie Smith complain, once!
You want to be loved and remembered as a teacher of Shakespeare? These texts are the tools; your job is to cast the strengths of your students and encourage regular readings. If you have a good class they will teach each other as they grow a performance. Don’t let anyone stay silent, and encourage all attempts, especially for students terrified of speaking publicly. Everyone must make sound. Everyone will get better through PRACTICE and encouragement.
Read the SOL plays; they work. Then, read them out loud. They work even better! Then play them 0ut loud!
If you are still unclear about certain passages, listen to my audio-plays.
Then get used to being that cherished teacher who was so good at bringing Shakespeare to life.