Advice to a Player: A Collection of Monologues from Shakespeare with Explanatory Notes [Paperback]

Donald MacKechnie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0879109629 | ISBN-13: 978-0879109622 | Edition: 1st Limelight ed

While some of the thirty-two speeches included here - those from Hamlet, Henry V and As You Like It, for example - are well known and favorites for audition purposes, most are less familiar and so provide challenging new opportunities for an actor to grow. The author, a producer, director and teacher for more than 40 years, carefully analyzes the meaning of each monologue as a whole and various sentences and phrases within it. He goes on to explain point by point everything the actor needs to know about that moment in the play when the monologue is delivered. In her foreword, Joan Plowright extols, "...he's done an excellent job of de-mystifying Shakespeare in his book...No actor attempting his first Shakespearean role (or even his second) should be without it."

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Limelight Editions; 1st Limelight ed edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879109629
• ISBN-13: 978-0879109622
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,820,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb "Advice", June 4, 2002

By 

Stephen Apostolina (Burbank, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Advice to a Player: A Collection of Monologues from Shakespeare with Explanatory Notes (Paperback)

What a find! I bought this book on the recommendation of Joan Plowright's foreward and am so pleased I did. Mackechnie's book not only gathers an amazing amount of Shakespearean monologues, but he dissects them with considerable insight and wit. He guides you through each speech with so much info: why, where, who, that it all makes perfect sense. Any acting student would benefit not only from the technical wisdom but from the anecdotal wisdom as well. Apparently Mackechnie has worked with Laurence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, Plowright, Ian Mckellen, among others. Highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ENJOYABLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE SHAKESPEARE AT LAST!, June 8, 2002

By 

LEO J GRAINGER PHD (WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Advice to a Player: A Collection of Monologues from Shakespeare with Explanatory Notes (Paperback)

Great reading in any type of weather. Witty, intellingently presented. Great choice of words. Makes William Shakespeare really a "Bill" who did write ABOUT the masses FOR the masses. Sharp focus on many of the plays that used to give me problems in analyses. Explanation flows effortlessly and make a great deal of sense, when presented with actual monologues! So few bucks for such insights. When Mr. MacKechnie urges his readers "onward" I was ready! JGRAINGER, PHD.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing and Illuminating (and Fun, Too), June 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Advice to a Player: A Collection of Monologues from Shakespeare with Explanatory Notes (Paperback)

It keeps getting better with each page. If you're like me, and you're not all that familiar with the real Shakespeare, you'll find this a truly illuminating read. It's accessible, it's fun, and it sure is a better beach read then anything else you're likely to find this summer. What a terrific surprise!