Speak the Speech!: Shakespeare's Monologues Illuminated

As a young actor currently studying Shakespeare in an acting conservatory, this book perfectly compliments the tools I am being taught. It is full of information written in a clear, efficient manner and is never patronizing to the reader. The tone has a lighteness and joy that invites the actor into the world of classical text and removes any stodgy stereotypes that may surround the poet's work. I recommend this book to any actor who is looking for some less performed Shakespeare monologues and comes equipped with an incredibley useful guide to understanding the plays themselves, as well as what is going on specifically with each monologue. I would buy it as a gift for all of my acting friends. Bravo to the authors.

Simply the best book ever to analyze Shakespeare's monologues: incisive, illuminating, deeply intelligent, always entertaining and sometimes brilliant. Experienced actors as well as those new to the craft will find this immeasurably helpful, and they will have plenty of company. Anyone who appreciates Shakespeare's words and work will find this wonderful book an oasis in a literary desert too often filled with mirages.

As a nonactor I'm in the midst of reading this book. Now for the first time I'm completely grasping the prose and verse. In the past I've tried to read Shakespeare cold, with no help, and as a modern English speaker you can pick up some things yes, but this book makes it all, and I mean all clear. We get well over 100 of his greatest monologues, and every unfamiliar word is fully explained, as well as multiple interpretations of the lines. I recommend this book to students, actors, writers, and layman for it will unleash the magic of the verse. And when it does you can read or see a performance and grasp it all...and there is so much to grasp, and a good play requires a good reader, a good performance, a good audience, and this book will make you one.

Learn the Speech! Actors need tools for their acting toolkit and not a day goes by here at my Writers & Performers Garage in Los Angeles that I don't mention this great new tool. With over 150 monologues, it's an essential for actor preparation. I can't think of any recent book I've read that is more useful for actors working seriously at their craft.

Although I know Speak the Speech is intended to be "an actor's tool kit," I have found it abundantly helpful as I teach my Shakespeare literature class this semester. The analysis and explication of speeches from As You Like It, Richard II and Henry IV have been a god-send as I work to have Shakespeare's characters jump off the page and live in the imaginations of my students. I am also thrilled to be able to refer students in my Audition Techniques class to the book as they struggle with developing classical audition monologues. The wonder of this text is that it offers textual illumination of familiar passages for seasoned actors and scholars, and is at the same time written in a manner that is immediately accessible beginners.I look forward with excitement to using this book in coming semesters as I teach my classes in acting Shakespeare.