Acting from Shakespeare's First Folio: Theory, Text and Performance / Edition 1

by Don Weingust

Overview

Acting from Shakespeare's First Folio examines a series of techniques for reading and performing Shakespeare's plays that are based on the texts of the first 'complete' volume of Shakespeare's works: the First Folio of 1623.

Do extra syllables in a line suggest how it might be played? Can Folio commas reveal character? Don Weingust places this work on Folio performance possibility within current understandings about Shakespearean text, describing ways in which these challenging theories about acting often align quite nicely with the work of the theories' critics.

As part of this study, Weingust looks at the work of Patrick Tucker and his London-based Original Shakespeare Company, who have sought to discover the opportunities in using First Folio texts, acting techniques, and what they consider to be original Shakespearean performance methodologies. Weingust argues that their experimental performances at the Globe on Bankside have revealed enhanced possibilities not only for performing Shakespeare, but for theatrical practice in general.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415979160
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/20/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Don Weingust is Assistant Professor of Drama at Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts. He holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and is a member of Actors Equity Association.

Table of Contents

1 First Folio acting techniques: Richard Flatter, Neil Freeman and Patrick Tucker 2 First Folio techniques and the death of the bibliographer 3 First Folio techniques in performance: the Original Shakespeare Company and the International Shakespeare’s Globe Center

Editorial Reviews

'Acting from Shakespeare's First Folio is essential reading for anyone interested in the transmission of his plays from the 17th to the 21st century and the problem of staging "authentic" performances.' - British Theatre Guide

From the Publisher