Speaking Shakespeare

This book was purchased for a young actor friend who is studying Shakespeare. He has the added challenge of being a non-native speaker and this book has been a tremendous help with learning the rhythms of English speech. Highly recommended for anyone interested in performing Shakespeare, with advice from someone who is clearly an expert.

Oddly enough, words seem completely inadequate to describe Patsy and her teaching. She is an absolute hero and beyond extraordinary...there are few who understand the human being and their voice better than she. If you don't have the opportunity to be in her presence, and learn from her in person (an undeniably mind-blowing experience), then her books are definitely next best thing. Her writing is always incredibly concise and powerful, but this one is particularly full of wonderful examples and imagery. Her structure and method is so clearly laid out, and her passion is always present in her writing (no matter the book), it is almost as if you are in the room with her. This book would be an invaluable addition to any library, as would any or all of her other works. Patsy Rodenburg is quite simply one-of-a-kind amazing!

I had to use this text as part of a class at VCU called Speaking Shakepeare. It is wise to realize that this text, since it is voice and movement related necessitates that one must use the material outside just reading it. Reading Rodenburg can be repetitive at times. However, her approach and detailed examples accentuates the translating of the foreign language of Shakespeare into a palpable and manipulative text. This practical approach takes the hindering and fright out of the playwright's words. I have had great success, thanks to using this book as an aide in tackling Shakespeare. A worth while investment. Just make sure that you apply it step by step, not all at once.

I'm not sure why I purchased this book in the first place--something told me I wouldn't understand Shakespeare simply by reading it unless I really learned to speak it. It's blown my world wide open. This is an astonishing book--which even if it apparently looks like a workbook for actors, is more importantly a guide for anyone who'd like to know what planet she's landed on. Because you can't know much about planet earth if you don't know much about Shakespeare--and the secrets Shakespeare is willing to share with you aren't available unless you can hear his lines, and you can't hear them if you can't speak them. Understand, I've been reading Shakespeare for 40 years. this book has doubled the pleasure and depth of the experience for me.