PLAYING SHAKESPEARE: SET SPEECHES AND SOLILOQUY {SHOW #04} (TV)
Summary
One in this miniseries of "master classes" hosted by John Barton and featuring members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, exploring the techniques and styles used by actors in performing the works of the Bard. In this installment, Barton opens by discussing Shakespeare's many speeches, cautioning actors against "generalizing" the emotions of a monologue, which he says are more difficult than dialogue. He stresses that speeches "have to be going somewhere" and help to move the plot along, and Sinead Cusack acts out Portia's "quality of mercy" speech from "The Merchant of Venice," aided by David Suchet, taking care to make it sound spontaneous. Richard Pasco performs the classic "all the world's a stage" speech from "As You Like It," and Barbara Leigh-Hunt and Lisa Harrow follow this up with the Queen Margaret's speech from "Richard III." Barton then notes that in some scenes, characters are more articulate than their highly emotional state would realistically allow them to be, and Patrick Stewart very sorrowfully performs Titus Andronicus' woeful lament in response to a series of tragedies. They observe that the emotion replaced the text, and Stewart performs it again in a more restrained style. Harrow then recites Lady Hotspur's impassioned plea to the king to avoid war from "1 Henry IV." Barton states that actors performing speeches "need to go for the argument," and Tony Church performs the Archbishop of Canterbury's semi-comic speech from "Henry V" in which he makes the case for his claim to the throne.
Barton opines that a soliloquy is the most challenging form of speech, as the actor is usually alone and talking to themselves, and stresses the need for the actor to "share" the words with the audience, focusing on situation, story and spontaneity. Jane Lapotaire performs Cressida's speech from Act 1, Scene 2, and Barton encourages her to "flaunt" the words the second time around and speak to the audience. She agrees that the character already knows the truths they are stating, and therefore must necessarily inform the listeners of them as well. Next, Alan Howard takes the stage for the king's brooding speech from "3 Henry IV." Barton highlights the importance of considering the use of rhyme, and Susan Fleetwood performs Helana's speech about her love life from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with attention to its poetry. They then discuss the speeches which are addressed partially to oneself, partially to the audience and partially to another character, and Donald Sinden performs Othello's speech in which he ponders the murder of Desdemona before committing the deed. Other speeches are "muddled" in their tone, and Judi Dench recites Viola's comic-serious "ring soliloquy" from "Twelfth Night."
Finally they touch upon the oft-discussed "to be or not to be" speech from "Hamlet," with Suchet quoting the Tulane Drama Review's overblown comments, and Michael Pennington performs the classic speech, first pensively to himself and then more openly to the audience, posing its existential questions to all present. Barton closes the program by reiterating the importance of not simply "showing" the audience that a character is thinking, but rather sharing their words and thoughts with them through the use of speeches. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: WNYC-TV (New York, NY) / Public TV (AAPB)
- DATE: August 19, 1984
- RUNNING TIME: 0:51:25
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:19480
- GENRE: N/A
- SUBJECT HEADING: International Collection - United Kingdom; Documentary; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616; Miniseries
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Melvyn Bragg … Executive Producer
- Nick Evans … Executive Producer
- Andrew Snell … Producer
- John Barton … Writer, Host
- John Carlaw … Director
- Guy Woolfenden … Music by
- Tony Church … Performer
- Sinead Cusack … Performer
- Judi Dench … Performer
- Susan Fleetwood … Performer
- Lisa Harrow … Performer
- Alan Howard … Performer
- Jane Lapotaire … Performer
- Barbara Leigh-Hunt … Performer
- Richard Pasco … Performer
- Michael Pennington … Performer
- Donald Sinden … Performer
- Patrick Stewart … Performer
- David Suchet … Performer
- William Shakespeare