Getting to Know Shakespeare

Now that my e/book Truth in Action is away to the printers, my attention turns back to my original book Approaching Shakespeare.  Shakespeare is something special to me, not just because we’re supposed to love him, but because he is truly a man for all times.  His thoughts and poetry stretch out in time to touch us even now, there is barely a situation you can experience, that Shakespeare has not covered in his plays or poetry.  And on the topic of love, (today is Valentine’s Day after all) then he is a master.  Go one further and we have the whole Shakespeare authorship debate (please note the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust were invited to take part in this debate on my blog, but while anti-Stratfordians were happy to comment, the SBT were… absent.  Oh well, why would they want to reach an extra 22,000 people?)

At the moment on Sky Arts 2, we’re getting In Love with Shakespeare, a short 5-minute piece where an actor does their favourite bit of Shakespeare.  It’s a neat idea, not too long, snappy and impressive.  Worth a watch if you have Sky Arts.

But actually, regardless of their lack of interaction (they were again invited to talk more about their course via this blog, but they ignored the email)  the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust have produced TWO really wonderful things.  So if you love Shakespeare, or if he’s a mystery and you’d love to get to know him properly, then I would STRONGLY recommend these resources.

The first is Shakespeare Bites Back – a totally FREE PDF eBook about the Shakespeare Authorship debate, written by Stanley Wells and Paul Edmondson.  It’s written by two world renowned experts on Shakespeare and will enlighten about the authorship debate.  Didn’t you know that some bonkers folk think Shakespeare didn’t write Shakespeare? Well, it’s a fascinating and engaging read, so ahead and give it a blast, you’ll enjoy it.

But for a much more comprehensive love affair with Shakespeare,  you can take a free course on Shakespeare online via the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust.  They’ve called it Getting to Know Shakespeare and it’s a set of documents, videos, pictures and audio files that you can actually work your way through.  It’s full of fascinating stuff for actors, not just stuffy facts of academic debates, but the stuff of actually loving to PERFORM Shakespeare and includes many interviews with actors.  One by Abigail Rokison, an actress and academic is absolutely wonderful and I’m proud to say that I worked with Abigail long ago when she was just out of Drama School and before she was a Cambridge scholar.  You could sit and go through all of it in one sitting if you wanted to, but it’s much better to take your time and enjoy it.  But it’s completely free, carefully thought out and well constructed.  I hope you’ll sign up for free and join me in learning more about this truly inspiring person, William Shakespeare, the swan of Avon.

 

To You, The Best!

Mark Westbrook
Senior Acting Coach
ACTING COACH SCOTLAND


Like What You Read? Want to Read More? Mark's eBook is available here
Looking for Acting Classes in Glasgow? Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2011

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Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 Shakespeare

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3 Comments to Getting to Know Shakespeare

Howard Schumann
14/02/2012

For a complete rebuttal of the Stratford mythology as promulgated by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in their “60 minutes” broadcast, see:

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Howard/My%20Documents/Howard/Shakespeare%20Authorship/sbt_rebuttal.pdf

Some folks are really bonkers and some folks will do anything to preserve their tourist industry.

Icons of Europe
18/02/2012

Icons of Europe conducted in December 2012 a review of the Shakespeare authorship question and concludes:

“Shakespeare was a prolific theatrical entrepreneur. His company produced plays branded ‘Shakespeare’ as a result of a collaborative effort involving a stable of the finest playwrights and poets, notably Ben Jonson, as well as the royal court.”

It’s specifically supported by QA24-27 of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. The 60 QAs show that Shakespeare was “no fraud”, but provides no evidence for him being “the true [or sole] author”. – Just like executive director Vikkie Heywood of RSC is not the ‘true/sole author’ of RSC plays.

The third-part Twitter entity @AvonSwan has picked up Icons of Europe’s report and is currently reviewing the SBT 60QAs, for which we are grateful.

Icons of Europe
18/02/2012

Oops: It should be ‘December 2011′.

 
You can contact Mark by emailing mark@actingcoachscotland.co.uk