Book review: Acting Shakespeare’s language, by Andy Hinds. London: Oberon
Books Ltd, 2015; ISBN: 9781783190089 (£14.99)Publisher PD

Silberschatz, Marc

The Scottish Journal of Performance

English

St Andrews Research Repository

Book review: Book review: Acting Shakespeare’s language, by Andy HindsMARC SILBERSCHATZThe Scottish Journal of Performance Volume 2, Issue 2; June 2015ISSN: 2054-1953 (Print) / ISSN: 2054-1961 (Online)Publication details: http://www.scottishjournalofperformance.orgTo cite this article: Silberschatz, M., 2015. Book review: Acting Shakespeare’s language, by Andy Hinds. Scottish Journal of Performance, 2(2): pp.125–128. To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/  10.14439/sjop.2015.0202.08This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ for details.Silberschatz (2015)DOI: 10.14439/sjop.2015.0202.08Book review: Acting Shakespeare’s language, by Andy HindsMARC SILBERSCHATZDOI: 10.14439/sjop.2015.0202.08 Publication date: 26 June 2015 Acting  Shakespeare’s  language,  by  Andy  Hinds.  London:  OberonBooks Ltd, 2015; ISBN: 9781783190089 (£14.99)In my career as a director and academic, I have often beenasked  by  students,  actors  and  directors  to  recommendreading about Shakespearean performance. Responding tothis  is  a  struggle.  An  approach  to  and  understanding  ofShakespearean  performance  is  something  that  in  manyways cannot be taught.  Rather,  I  believe the key is  in thecultivation  of  individual  ownership  of  practices  in  theservice of artistic identity and values. Though a single textelucidating  the  practice  of  performing  Shakespeare  cannever and will never exist,  Acting Shakespeare’s languagebelongs on a very short list of texts that will, in almost allcases,  support  this  ownership  and  prove  stimulating  anduseful to anyone with an interest in the subject.The focus of the chapters varies, ranging from foundationalideas  or  practices  (‘Questions,  orders  and  explanations’,pp.1–17), to specific uses of language in Shakespeare (‘Thouand you’, pp.37–43), to theoretical discussion (‘Why honourthe  verse?’,  pp.57–60),  to  broad  requirements  ofShakespearean acting (‘Acting Shakespeare’s verse’, pp.61–113;  ‘Acting  Shakespeare’s  prose’,  pp.168–192;  ‘Solospeeches’,  pp.193–257). Within the chapters are numerouspractical  exercises  that  the  reader  is  encouraged  toundertake  while  reading  the  book.  These  are  helpfullyindexed so that they may be quickly found and explored. It is125Scottish Journal of PerformanceVolume 2, Issue 2therefore  more  possible  to  jump  around  the  text,  findingspecific tools for specific situations. However, it is clear thateach  chapter  of  the  book  builds  on  the  previous,  laysfoundation  for  a  subsequent  chapter,  or  both.  For  thisreason, the full efficacy of Hinds’s text reveals itself in thecumulative  weight  of  his  theories  and  practices  as  theydevelop throughout the text.There are a number of strengths to Hinds’s approach to andpresentation  of  Shakespearean  performance.  First  amongthese is Hinds’s recognition that while writing on theory andpractice can be beneficial  in the transmission of  practicalapproaches  to  performance,  this  writing  must  besupplemented with individual, subjective experience of thematerial presented. It is not unusual that a book on practicalperformance  techniques  would  encourage  the  reader  toactually engage in the practices described, but Hinds takesthis a step further. There are many places in the book whereHinds presents  not  only  his  own opinion  of  the strongestway  to  approach  a  piece  of  text,  but  several  alternatives.Frequently,  the  reader  is  expected  to  explore  these  andother  possible  variations.  Hinds  avoids  insisting  on  therightness  of  one  variation  and instead asks  the  reader  tomake an individual aesthetic judgement of what he/she feelsis most effective. This approach suggests a recognition thatthere is no single correct interpretation of Shakespeareantext  and  that  any  approach  to  teaching  Shakespeareanperformance  must  attempt  to  develop  ownership  of  thepractices  in  the  service  of  individual  artistic  vision.  ThatHinds allows space for disagreement and contradiction is akey  step  in  this  process  and  one  which  more  texts  onperforming Shakespeare should endeavour to deploy.Beyond this, Acting Shakespeare’s language is admirable inits  thoroughness.  The text  ranges from basic exercises tohighly complex ways of thinking about or approaching theperformance  of  Shakespearean  text.  What  is  particularly126Silberschatz (2015)DOI: 10.14439/sjop.2015.0202.08noteworthy is  that  in the presentation of  his  ideas,  Hindsoffers  original  insights  into  what  appear  to  be  beginner-level  exercises.  In  this  way,  even  highly  experienced  andknowledgeable  readers  will  encounter  new  ideas  orpractices throughout the entirety of the book. Related to thisis  Hinds’s  refusal  to  accept  received  wisdom  aboutShakespearean text without first ensuring that it stands upto scrutiny, allowing sustained interrogation into the theoryand practice of Shakespearean performance.One  of  the  key  challenges  of  a  text  like  this  is  that  itrepresents  an  attempt  to  translate  practice  into  a  writtenaccount or description. While Hinds is extremely successfulin  this  regard,  there  are  places  where  his  writtenarticulation of practice is less clear and precise than it couldhave been. Early in the text, Hinds argues that ‘every humanutterance is an explanation, a question, an order’ and that‘when delivering lines,  then, there are only three types ofobjective a character can have… “to explain”, “to ask” or “toorder”’ (Hinds, 2015, p.3). In reading the rest of the book, Ihave taken this to mean that all actions an actor might playcould be grouped into three broad categories (explanations,questions or orders).  However,  it  is possible that a reader(particularly someone without a  grounding in action-  andobjective-based  acting)  might  believe  Hinds  is  suggestingthat all they need ever do in performance is explain, ask ororder.  Similarly,  in  articulating  scansion,  Hinds  offersexamples of what he considers mis-scanned lines (these arealmost always lines with too many unstressed syllables in arow). He asks the reader to recognise how the text seems to‘skitter’ and refers to this type of scansion as ‘skidding’ or‘skiddy’  (Hinds,  2015,  pp.65–68).  While  I  am  in  completeagreement with Hinds’s overarching point—that the rhythmand  meter  of  iambic  verse  should  be  honoured—  thelanguage he uses is imprecise and seems to reflect personalfeeling more than a fully articulated argument for or againsta  particular  scansion  choice.  This  section  particularlystands  out:  it  reads  as  more  dogmatic  and  less  clearly127Scottish Journal of PerformanceVolume 2, Issue 2articulated than the rest of the book.In  spite  of  these  comparatively  minor  issues,  in  writingActing Shakespeare’s language, Hinds has offered a majorpractical  tool  for  actors,  directors,  students,  teachers  andShakespeare aficionados. There is much within this text thatwill  be  beneficial  regardless  of  the  reader’s  level  ofknowledge or experience. If the reader has a grounding inaction-  and  objective-based  acting,  this  book  could  beconsidered a primary source of knowledge and practice inShakespearean performance. Highly recommended.About the review authorMARC  SILBERSCHATZ  is  a  lecturer  in  drama  at  the  University  ofSunderland. He holds a PhD from the University of St Andrews and theRoyal Conservatoire of Scotland. His practice-led research focuses ondeveloping contributions to rehearsal and performance practice thatattempt  to  minimise  pre-agreed-upon  performance  structure  anddivided consciousness in actors. Also a professional theatre director,he  has  staged  (among  other  things)  productions  of  fourteenShakespeare plays in both the United States and the United Kingdom.128

Book review: Acting Shakespeare’s language, by Andy Hinds

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

St Andrews Research Repository

Crossref