Shakespeare's Advice to the Players (The Actor's Toolkit)

Foreword by Dan Stevens 'A Masterchef's tips for cooking up a theatrical feast.' Legendary director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company Peter Hall asserts that 'Shakespeare tells the actor when to go fast and when to go slow; when to pause, when to come in on cue and when to accent a word. His text is full of such clues.' In this book, Peter Hall works through speeches from Shakespeare's plays, revealing and elucidating these clues, providing the key to understanding and speaking the text. 'You can't improvise this shit!' Dustin Hoffman An essential text for classical training at drama school, an invaluable reference book for actors and directors working on Shakespeare productions and a treasure trove for avid Shakespeare readers and theatregoers. Bonus feature: Audio download of Peter Hall at work with Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens 'Reading this book I am reminded not only of Shakespeare's genius but also of Peter's. He manages to convey, lucidly and helpfully how to speak the language that can seem so very daunting...It is a book that should be compulsory for every actor, experienced or inexperienced, professional or amateur, to own and use.' David Suchet CBE 'I find the most valuable ingredient is Peter's tone. Even though he is academic, instructive, exhaustively experienced...his observation of the texts and of his own experiences is fresh and immediate and always helpful. His guidance is born of a genuine passion and fascination with Shakespeare's words and the characters who speak them. Quite often, the points one absorbs as useful go beyond the world of Shakespeare too. He shares his tools with great generosity in this book, as he does in the rehearsal room. I will be forever indebted to him and the book will be forever by my side.' Janie Dee