Customer Reviews

Players of Shakespeare 1: Essays in Shakespearean Performance by Twelve Players with the Royal Shakespeare Company

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Reading Actors' descriptions of their approaches to Shakespeare's characters is a fantastic way of accessing the material.

What these books provide, is insight into how an actor thought of playing a certain role but didn't, how they played off of other characters, which characters they felt "drove the play," and so much more in the way of detail. They discuss their own processes, directors, fellow actors, different adaptations, etc.

I found that this approach truly makes certain of Shakespeare's characters more accessible. An actor helps to break the code of the character and bring you into the material, which is such a gift, and you can't watch a play at your leisure over and over again the way you can a film, so books like these can help bridge a gap.

Most of the essays written are interesting to read regardless of whether you have a particular interest in a certain play or not. I can imagine that an acting student would get a tremendous amount from these books, as they might from having private conversations or lessons with accomplished stage actors.