All the Words on Stage

All the Words on Stage is a Complete Pronunciation Dictionary for the plays of William Shakespeare with over 5000 words. All the Words on Stage is the foundation for the AUDIO Shakespeare Pronunciation App. A brief overview of All the Words on Stage All English words in this Shakespeare dictionary, including words absorbed into English from other languages, are listed … Read More

When to use You vs Thou

Close readers of the plays of Shakespeare will have noted that characters will often address others using either you or thou. The employment and differentiation of you and thou are still in use in French, Italian, and Spanish. The words in translation are also used in the speaking of German. Examples of You vs Thou in Plays of Shakespeare Further, … Read More

References

References Audio Shakespeare Pronunciation App: Abbott, E. A. A Shakespearian Grammar. New York: Dover Publications, 1966. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3rd Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992. Allen, W. Sidney. Vax Latina. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965. Attridge, Derek. Poetic Rhythm: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Barton, John. Playing Shakespeare. London and New York: Methuen, … Read More

Shakespeare Monologues – Advanced Class Begins

The Advanced Class in my private Voice and Speech program is working on their first Shakespeare monologues. We finished a series of scanning exercises. These included discussions about short verse lines, long verse lines and shared verse lines. Also it contains epic caesuras, elisions, stretching a word, and acting on the verse line. Now the challenge is to use all … Read More

Creating the Audio Shakespeare Dictionary App

The process of recording over 5000 words for the Audio Shakespeare Pronunciation App presented numerous challenges. The first attempt at recording was in less than ideal circumstances – my apartment with my iPad and a Snowball microphone. The apartment seemed to be quiet until we listened to the words. As we listened, the audio recordings revealed everything from birds chirping, … Read More

Hamlet Original Pronunciation (O.P.)

Rehearsals of Hamlet original pronunciation or O.P, proved revelatory, and the students initiated a blog to track their discoveries. New wordplay emerged from a text with which the directors were thoroughly familiar. The personalities of the characters attained greater contours than they would have in either Standard American or in R.P. (Received Pronunciation, or what used to be known as … Read More

“King and Country” BAM – Royal Shakespeare Company

King and Country BAM The Royal Shakespeare Company recently finished a run of “King and Country” a series of four of Shakespeare’s history plays performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The opportunity to see “Richard II”, “Henry IV” (Parts 1 and 2) and “Henry V” does not come along very often. The RSC’s new (since 2013) Artistic Director is … Read More

“All’s Well That Ends Well” using the Audio App

“All’s Well that Ends Well” Recently I was working on a production of “All’s Well that Ends Well” for the Graduate Acting Program at NYU. Because I had taught the students for two years, they were familiar with my voice and speech work. Therefore the students knew how to incorporate our classroom work into the production. During the Third Year, … Read More

Acting students use the Audio Shakespeare Pronunciation App

My First Year students in the Graduate Acting Program at NYU have been very enthusiastic about using the Audio Shakespeare Pronunciation App. It is very useful as they rehearse their First Year Shakespeare projects. Half of the class is working on “Hamlet” and the other half is rehearsing “Macbeth”. These projects are the culmination of their First Year of training. … Read More

O.P. Experience At The Classical Studio

Learning Original Pronunciation Shakespeare’s work is so relevant to modern life. Although, what theater-maker hasn’t fantasized about getting a glimpse of what an original production of these plays sounded like? This year, The Classical Studio took a step towards expanding the “original practices” movement by learning O.P. (Original Pronunciation) in preparation for the Studio’s production of Hamlet this past spring. O.P. is … Read More