Secrets of acting Shakespeare : the original approach /

Any theater person or academic interested in understanding Shakespeare should read Tucker's remarkable book. Elizabethan production schedules led him to conclude that Shakespeare's actors had virtually no time to rehearse and acted from scripts that had their character's lines and cues only. Tucker re-created this procedure with his Original Shakespeare Company, which for ten years has performed at London's Globe Theatre and in Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. His actors study the text of their part with him and work out necessary physical business with other cast members. There is no script analysis, direction, or staging in the usual sense. The actors, working from Folio texts that Tucker argues are closest to the original, discover the characters and relationships as they perform. An onstage "book holder" sorts out any problems, a backstage "book keeper" helps with entrances, and a plot posted backstage helps actors keep track of the action. As in Elizabethan times, this production style has no special stage lighting so actors are not separated from audiences. Even those not convinced by Tucker's arguments will find them worth serious consideration. Including appendixes as well as other apparatus, this volume is highly recommended at all levels. R. Sugarman emeritus, Southern Vermont College