Nervous About Performing Shakespeare?



Posted: Sunday, November 23, 2008

by
Memorize Shakespeare

The audience is on your side.

This is true in all performing arts. No one goes to any type of show hoping to see the performer fail. Every person in every seat in the theatre wants to see a great show. If they came to see a comedy, they are ready and waiting to laugh.

They are not hoping you'll fail.

But Shakespeare Is a Special Case In most shows, most of the audience doesn't know the material. But people who come to see Shakespeare generally know the plot, the best scenes, and their favourite lines by heart.

Oh no! They'll be expecting so much more!

Do you think they're hoping you'll screw up? No! Unlike other audiences, they are more supportive and enthusiastic, which means they're rooting for you even more.

Making the Character Your Own And here's the really important part: a lot of actors think they have to reinvent the famous characters, and unless they do something completely original in every scene, then the audience will be bored.



"Ho hum I used to like Macbeth, but this actor is performing it as if he were a Scottish King who usurped the throne, and I've seen that before."

Of course they've seen it before. But they've never seen YOU do this part before. Even if you try to copy Ian McKellen's performance, because you have your own voice and body it will be new.

So don't try to force the part to be completely different from every thing that came before. Audiences still watch Shakespeare because they love to see the same brilliant plays over and over again. They're cheering for you.

David McCormick is the director of Memorize Shakespeare, a revolutionary way for actors to learn their lines easily, in less time, and with perfect recall. If you have trouble remembering your lines or cues in Shakespeare's plays, you owe it to yourself to visit MemorizeShakespeare.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Teresa Ortiz
 3 years 77 days ago.
187 fans.
Hi david, welcome to Searchwarp. Thanks for sharing this advice. It is so true. I learned this in my acting classes. The worst thing you can do is act like an actor--you must know the character inside and out. We were always required to write up a bio on the character before we could do one bit of acting. It makes a big difference in performance is you know who you are supposed to be. Thanks for bringing my drama days back to mind :-) Blessings to you. Keep sharing.
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