CONTENTS
Prologue: What You Most Affect
So What Do I Mean, Really, by “Outrageous”?
And What Do I Mean by “Caused by Love”?
How Does “Outrageous” Apply to Playing Shakespeare?
Who He was, What He Did, and What That Means for Us Actors
All Women’s Roles Played by Boys
Summary: What This Means for Your Acting
Exercise 3: Don’t Think About It
Exercise 4: Hop, Kneel Crawl, and Hug!
Exercise 5: Wrestle, Kick, Speak!
Exercise 6: You Are Being Chased
Exercise 7: Every Line is a New Discovery
Exercise 14: “Duh, Hell-oh, F—k!”
Exercise 15: In-Motion, Not E-Motion
Exercise 17: The Last Line Six Times
Exercise 18: Grow from the Ground Up
Exercise 19: Roll on the Floor
Exercise 20: Dueling Shakespeare
Act Three: Words, Words, Words!
More Tools from Shakespeare’s Arsenal
Rhymed Verse and Couplets: A Poet and Do Know It
Dag-nabbit! Shakespeare’s Made-up Words
Act Four: Divers Schedules: A Few Items Picked Up Watching Actors Do Shakespeare
Item 1: There is No Subtext in Shakespeare
Item 2: There is Never a “Fourth Wall”
Item 3: Size is About More than Being Big and Loud
Item 4: Play What the Scene is Doing—Not Just What the Words Mean
Item 5: Antithesis is Fighting for an Answer by Comparing Opposites
Exercise 22: Play the Antithesis
Item 6: Don’t Report, Make a Discovery!
Item 7: Leave Your Hands Alone
Item 8: Speak a Soliloquy as if Your Life Depended upon It—Because It Does
Item 9: Pretty Speeches are About Blood and Guts
Exercise 23: A Pig in Slop—with the Words
Item 11: Shakespeare is Too Big for Film
Item 12: All Shakespearean Characters are Philosophers and Poets
Glossary: A Listing of Common Shakespearean Terminology