Shakespeare and Meisner
A Practical Guide for Actors, Directors, Students and Teachers by Butterfly duo Aileen Gonsalves and Tracy Irish.
“Beautifully written and highly accessible, this book contains a treasure trove of ideas. It brilliantly illustrates how the techniques developed by Meisner can bring Shakespeare’s language vividly to life. It made me immediately want to try out the techniques and start to play.”
— Jacqui O'Hanlon, Director of Education, Royal Shakespeare Company, UK
This practical handbook is invaluable for anyone performing, teaching, studying or simply wanting a new way to enjoy Shakespeare.
Shakespeare writes about the truth in human relationships and human hearts. Sanford Meisner's work unlocks truthful acting. They would seem a perfect match. Yet, following Meisner's note to his actors that “text is your greatest enemy”, Shakespeare and Meisner are often considered 'strange bedfellows’.
This book explores how actors can use Meisner's tools of “acting is reacting” to discover the infinite freedom within the apparent constraints of Shakespeare's text.
It provides an outline of Meisner's work and legacy, unlocks how to breathe life into Shakespeare’s texts using the Meisner Technique and The Gonsalves Method, and contains a wealth of practical exercises that will enable you to make genuine, truthful connections between actors and audience, through Shakespeare's timeless words.
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