Customer Reviews

All the Words on Stage: A Complete Pronunciation Dictionary for the Plays of William Shakespeare

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I couldn't have asked for a more concise and easy to use tool for all ages. The book is complete with the pronunciations for not only the innumerable amount of questionable words in Shakespeare, but it also has a summary of how language was used in each of Shakespeare's plays, as well as a complete Latin section for all of those impossible to pronounce phrases. This will prevent all the disagreements and arguments that are caused as a result of differing opinions on Shakespeare's pronunciation. It levels out the playing field of Sir William for a price that won't hurt your pockets, in a size that won't hurt your back, and a format that won't hurt your brain. Well worth the investment!

For years, actors, directors, and dramaturgs have struggled with a variety of materials for guidance on the pronunciation of Shakespeare's names, along with a multitude of other resources that helped with the pronunciation of obscure words appearing in his plays. Now Shane Ann Younts and Louis Scheeder, who work in the rehearsal studio with this text every day, have put everything - names plus unfamiliar words - into one easy-to-carry book, with phonetic pronunciations that are so easy to read that they can be instantly applied. This is a groundbreaking work for everyone involved in the rehearsal process of Shakespeare's plays. Every Shakespeare actor or student should own a copy, and no rehearsal table should lack one or three copies for easy reference during every stage of the rehearsal process! Thank-you Shane Ann and Louis, for creating a terrific tool to assist us in this day-to-day process of moving the words off the page in order to bring them to life on the stage. Bravo!!!

This book is an indispensable guide for anyone directing, performing or studying Shakespeare. Written by two master teachers, it has been painstakingly researched and designed with great care. I wish I'd had access to this terrific tool years ago.

Unfortunately I purchased another Shakespeare pronunciation dictionary before I found "All the Words on Stage". "All the Words" has over 5,000 words and it is arranged in a very easy to use way. It is COMPLETE. I wish I had found this first! Students and actors should have a copy of this book and I would think it is essential for anyone teaching Shakespeare on any level - high school or college. It really is a must have book for anyone who just loves reading Shakespeare or watching a production of Shakespeare. A previous reviewer mentioned the website which I found very helpful. It is www.allthewordsonstage.com.

"All the Words on Stage" is a much needed resource book for every theater company, actor, student-actor, and reader of Shakespeare's plays. Not only is the book organized in a user-friendly way but it is crammed with information - the pronunciation of every word but also a chapter on scanning the lines, a Latin section, and a short paragraph about each of the plays. Thanks to another reviewer, I checked out the book's website and found it extremely informative. It is WWW.ALLTHEWORDSONSTAGE.COM. For anyone who wants some information about the book before purchasing it, this is a terrific way to investigate it.

As an actor who has been in numerous productions of Shakespeare, I am delighted to find this book. In the past, many hours of wasted time have been spent sitting around rehearsal tables trying to figure out how to pronounce a word. Other dictionaries have been searched but no answers were found. Now all we have to do is open "All the Words on Stage". The subtitle "A Complete Pronunciation Dictionary for the plays of William Shakespeare" is perfect because this really is COMPLETE. Another reviewer mentioned not being able to find "o'er'. I don't know why he couldn't find it. It's on the bottom of page 174. The book is so clearly laid out that it's difficult to understand how someone could miss a word.
In productions of "The Tempest", "Julius Caesar" and "Richard III" we have found every word we looked up. Amazing! I think the "Afterthoughts" at the end of the book are gems. The tidbits of information in them are priceless. One of my fellow actors who is preparing for a production of "Love's Labor's Lost" has found the "Latin" section extremely helpful.
I highly, highly recommend this book.

What a wonderful blessing this book is for all of us.It is so simply laid out and so easily understandable that anyone is capable of using this book from the actor to the audience to the person who simply likes to read Shakespeare.This book takes away a fear that american actors have about not being able to perform Shakspeare. I find this book to be flawless and it should belong in everyone's home library.

"All the Words on Stage" has been an excellent resource to use when I am in a production of one of Shakespeare's plays. I used to spend a lot of time searching through dictionaries trying to find these archaic words or calling fellow actors who had been in the same play, hoping they would remember how the words were pronounced. Such a huge waste of time. "All the Words on Stage", has made it much easier to prepare for a role. The specific information of each word is amazing. One of my favorite entries is for what appears to be a simple the word - the word "BOW". There are three pronunciations and examples of the word in the play where it is used. It would be impossible to be confused about which pronunciation to use once you have looked up "bow" in this dictionary. As other reviewers have mentioned, the respelling of the words (to show how they are pronounced) is so clear that you don't even need to refer to the Guide at the front of the book. I wish other dictionaries would apply the system used in this book.

I had the book for a few weeks before I noticed the last chapter which is called "Afterthoughts". It is excellent. Short paragraphs on each of the plays which list the amount of poetry and prose in each play as well as examples of words that use a different stress than we do today. It also alerts you to trick words and words that you might not realize are tricky. It is a wonderful addition to an already superb dictionary.

Recommended to anyone who likes to read Shakespeare, to all actors, and to all students who are studying Shakespeare in high school or college.

Thank you, thank you for making this pronunciation dictionary available. Like some of the other reviewers, I wish I had known about it years ago. It would have saved me a lot of time and confusion. The book is so clear! Everyone in my theater group is buying a copy and my kids want a copy for their school library. ("All the Words on Stage" really should be in every high school in the country. It would make reading Shakespeare a lot easier for those who are new to his plays.) Before I purchased it I found a web site for the book which gives example pages and actually pronounces some of the words. Reading the web pages reinforced that I wanted to buy the book. For anyone who might be interested it's www.allthewordsonstage.com

Well finally someone wrote a book that really does answer all of my questions about pronunciations. I wish I had had a copy of this book last year when I was in a production of "Othello". The cast really struggled. The director tried to help us but he was lost. Thanks to "All the Words" I will never worry about pronunciations again.

Also, the chapter on scanning is excellent. Best explanation I've read or heard.