Rehearsal
Shakespeare Out Loud Teachers - My intention in creating this series was to encourage young people to practice 12 vacuumed plays of Shakespeare, out loud. This practice and refinement of accessible Shakespearean texts, teaches the stories clearly, and allows students to play with some of the most creative dramatic language ever written. If the new vocabulary and syntax is encouraged to be invented rather than recited, like everyday speech, it is much more likely to be remembered and re-used.
A significant portion of each class should be oral, not just listening to the teacher, but the students, orally playing the parts out loud. Assign readings early so students have time to practice. Cast creatively. I believe that providing paper scripts, where the young actors may jot down their notes, greatly facilitates this process. As an actor, I have always tried to invent my text. I have about 40 examples on my Speeches page.
Soooo, concentrate, at first, on why characters say what they do, why they choose each w0rd. Keep refining and orally practicing the thoughts that cause the words, and the plays will teach themselves. Productions will also block themselves through oral understanding and practice: the feet are easy to organize when the minds are clear. Also, accept that rhythm is a literary concept rarely discussed and never practised in professional rehearsals. Skilled actors make their text sound like heightened and invented everyday speech. That is why I formatted the words of Shakespeare not in prose or verse, but in thoughts; and why students and actors play them so readily.
Shall I be honest?
As a professional actor I was blessed with several world class teachers and many world class fellow-actors. I am the only actor who performed with Maggie Smith in all 5 Shakespearean productions directed by the great Robin Phillips at Stratford, Ontario, from 1978 to 1981. I also played Edgar in Peter Ustinov’s King Lear in 1980 and 1981. All these productions were abridged; all were judged world class. They all sold out to huge audiences. Been there, done that, and watched and listened to it all very keenly.
By vacuuming Shakespeare, which happens in all professional productions and films; then formatting what is left as thoughts, the text becomes much more immediately comprehensible and playable. We don’t get halted by so much obscure vocabulary, or nonsensical punctuation. We keep re-staging and re-recording these plays because different actors and directors, will bring them to life in different ways. The text will cause each of them to think unique thoughts. Audiences admire actors who think in real time, specifically, who can invent language, fresh-mint it with colour and passion.
So, I contend that weighing down teenagers with what you supposedly know about history and Shakespeare is a waste of their time. It is blah, blah, blah, and there are large libraries crammed full of it. Scholars write long books unearthing Elizabethan minutiae to pay off their mortgages. Since we have so few facts about Shakespeare’s life, drawing conclusions about it, from his plays, produces hundreds of books every year. To high school students, who cares?Encouraging students to bring Shakespeare’s characters to life with readings and performances is where the truly nutritious learning lies. If you, as a teacher, lack the confidence to direct readings, I’ll wager that there are students in your class who are born directors. There is usually one, at least. World class directors are always great listeners. They listen for, and shape, thought from their actors. They direct mainly through the use of their ears! Robin Phillips would use at least 1/2 of rehearsal time sitting around a table. We stood up when we knew where we might go.
You want to be loved and remembered as a teacher of Shakespeare? These texts are the tools; your job is to cast the strengths of your students. If your most courageous clown is female let her read Bottom or Dogberry. Suggest how each role can be special for them. If they then cherish their role they will cherish their language. My Romeo and Juliet guide, originally aimed at grade 9s, gives daily suggestions over 6 weeks for such an approach.
I created this series to spread an appreciation of Shakespeare. My dual purpose, however, was to provide teachers and young people a tool to practice and refine their oral communication skills. I am hoping that this practice will embolden young people to look up from their screens occasionally, and engage real people with their very real vocal clarity and creativity.
AI will eventually be their primary interlocutor. Teaching your students to clearly and creatively ask questions, might be their main survival tool! AI may also well-understand more than just the vocabulary used, it will eventually hear how the words are spoken and coloured, perhaps even felt. AI has been called, the revenge of the English teacher, but perhaps the drama teacher as well. AI is coming more swiftly than we imagine; we will need precise and subtle voices when interacting with such new intelligence. I suggest practicing these twelve plays; better yet, record readings for the parents of students. Others will listen! Make memories with the voices of your students.
Read the SOL plays; they work. Then, read them out loud. They work even better! Then play them 0ut loud!
Playing is where the fun and memories lie.