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A review by s4llym4nder
Playing Shakespeare: An Actor's Guide by John Barton
4.0
“We’ve talked of possibilities, not rules, / of questions, balances, not absolutes. / So are there any rules? Yes. Try to find / what goes on in the text and ask yourself / if you can use it. You must not reject it / until you’ve smelled it out and asked the questions. / Never forget the verse is there to help you. / It can be heightened, and yet very often / it’s close to our own humdrum human speech. / Which of you noticed while I have been talking / that I what I’ve just said was in bad blank verse?”
So often I’m sucked up in looking at Shakespeare through the eyes of an English student rather than considering the text through the lenses through which it was originally meant to be perceived: the eyes and minds of actors and audience members. Barton’s guide is one of the most thought-provoking and exploratory narratives I’ve read about Shakespeare — it’s taken my curiosity and passion about Shakespeare as both an actor and a thinker to newer, unexpected levels!
So often I’m sucked up in looking at Shakespeare through the eyes of an English student rather than considering the text through the lenses through which it was originally meant to be perceived: the eyes and minds of actors and audience members. Barton’s guide is one of the most thought-provoking and exploratory narratives I’ve read about Shakespeare — it’s taken my curiosity and passion about Shakespeare as both an actor and a thinker to newer, unexpected levels!