Shakespeare, Language and the Stage: The Fifth Wall Only

Resulting from workshops at Shakespeare’s Globe between leading critics, performance theorists, and theater practitioners, Shakespeare, Language and the Stage breaks down the invisible barrier between scholar and practitioner. Topics discussed include text and voice, playing and criticism, gesture, language and the body, gesture and audience, and multilingualism and marginality. The book provides fresh ways of thinking about the impact of Shakespeare’s language on an audience's understanding and interpretation of the action, and examines how a variety of performances engage with Shakespeare’s text, verse, and language. As such it is a unique and invaluable resource for students, scholars, and theater practitioners alike.

Jenstad, Lichtenfels, and Magnusson’s chapter on “Text and Voice” examines the “divergence and convergence” of Shakespeare’s written word and the lines performed on stage from the perspectives of the theater practitioner and the literary critic. Vocal technique and textual devices are addressed.

In their chapter, “Purposeful Playing? Purposeful Criticism?” Carroll, Smith, and White ask and answer this question: “What exactly is the relationship between the practitioner and the literary critic?”  This chapter is presented as a conversation before, during, and after The Fifth Wall Workshop, which was held in the interest of bridging gaps between theatrical practitioners and scholars of Shakespeare.  The student sees the discussion evolve and gains insight to the role of the director and of the scholar.

In their essay on “Gesture, Language and the Body,” Arden, Hendricks, and Hunter discuss the significance of these statements: “The body animates the text” and “The text animates gesture.”  Actors, directors, editors and critics contribute to the argument that “both acting and reading are embodied practices.”

Bradby, Doran, and Jackson expand on the importance of gesture in their chapter, “Gestures That Speak: Spectators Who Listen.”  They discuss strategies used to adapt Shakespeare’s text to the stage and to film and captivate an audience of either production.

Bieito, Delgado, and Parker’s chapter, “Resistant Readings, Multilingualism, and Marginality,” explores the impact translation can have on the reader, the performer, or the audience, when it obstructs the original text.  The discussion covers repositioning Shakespeare’s texts in context of time and place and modifying a translation to best suit the needs of a particular audience.

In the chapter, “Making Things Difficult,” Bogart, Escolme, and Worthen advocate for a degree of resistance on the part of critics and theater practitioners.  They suggest that a willingness to take imaginative risks and to accept the possibility of failure is critical to a thorough interpretation of Shakespeare’s work.  Research, divergence, and the connection between a performer and an audience are discussed.

Hytner, Reinelt, and Thompson’s chapter, “Retrospective: Janelle Reinelt: Final Session (Final Thoughts) on Heightened Language: Impasse or Interchange” conclude the volume.  This discussion accounts for the impasses between text and stage addressed in the preceding chapters, but aims to show the many ways in which Shakespeare’s literature and his theater are artfully entwined, and that each is enriched by the exploration of the other.



Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Series statement
List of contributors
Preface
Introduction
1. Text and voice
   Janelle Jenstad, Peter Lichtenfels, Lynne Magnusson
2. Purposeful playing? Purposeful criticism?
   Tim Carroll, Emma Smith, Martin White
3. Gesture, language and the body
   Annabel Arden, Margo Hendricks, Lynnette Hunter
4. Gestures that speak: spectators who listen
   David Bradby, Greg Doran, Russell Jackson
5. Resistant readings, multilingualism and marginality
   Calixto Bieito, Maria M. Delgado, Patricia Parker
6. Making things difficult
   Anne Bogart, Bridget Escolme, W. B. Worthen
7. Retrospective: Janelle Reinelt: final session (final thoughts) on heightened language: impasse or interchange?
   Nicholas Hytner, Janelle Reinelt, Ann Thompson
Background texts
Index