Shakespearean Verse Speaking

This book uses evidence from theatrical hand-books, performance practice and drama training to provide a synthesis of academic and theatrical approaches to the Shakespearean text. Abigail Rokison's work combines scholarship with practical exploration in the rehearsal room. In looking at theatrical interaction with early printed and modern edited texts, Rokison investigates the potential impact of editorial principles of lineation and punctuation on theatrical delivery. The book alerts editors to ways in which actors may interpret editorial emendations, and theatre practitioners to diverse authorial, editorial and compositional methods. It contains suggestions for a 'theatrical text' which makes clear the metrical structure of a scene whilst also indicating areas of ambiguous lineation. Providing a fresh perspective on Renaissance actors' parts, the book includes detailed analysis of the structural properties of the verse, in particular short lines, shared lines, end-stopping and enjambment in a range of Shakespearean texts.

• Provides an academic approach to a practical subject, challenging long-standing generalizations and assumptions
• Addresses the issue of how editorial decisions can influence actors' delivery of a text, encouraging a dialogue between the two constituencies
• Provides a new model for a performance text, edited in such a way as to make choices about lineation and punctuation visible to the actor