Acting Style

Acting style in Shakespeare plays are different than all other styles of acting. The words of the play are all so important to acting in a Shakespeare play that each piece of dialogue are almost characters themselves. You have to use Shakespeare's words to push yourself on to the next, you can't throw away a single word. Each word is meant to be felt and connected too. This can be said for any piece of theatre of course, but for Shakespeare it is especially important.

The above clip is a video clip of Judi Dench performing Viola's famous speech from "Twelfth Night" when Viola first realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with her under the false assumption that she is a man. Dench gives a performance that is the perfect example of feeling every word. You can see her channel every emotion as she moves through the piece, going from confusion to shock, shock to humor, humor to sadness, and back around again.


Acting teacher Marshall Gregory wrote an article for teachers about teaching the art of acting in a Shakespeare play. However, reading this article was great to read for actors as well as aspiring teachers. He discusses teaching a class for undergraduate students that focused on the art of acting and cold-reading the works of William Shakespeare and how this class made him realizes how important it is to not just "read" Shakespeare, but to connect.


“Why have I ceased getting better at reading Shakespeare out loud in class? Several years ago I had hit a plateau in the effectiveness of my oral classroom reading of Shakespeare, and, frankly, this annoyed me. I thought that taking a Shakespeare acting class might explain to me why, and it did. I learned very soon that there’s nothing wrong with the way I read Shakespeare, and that the next level of effectiveness is not a different or better kind of reading but something entirely different from reading. The next level is performance, and performance is not just a kind reading. I did not pack up my tent and leave the course, however, and the reasons I did not bring me to heart of my matter..."


Gregory, Marshall. "From Shakespeare on the Page to Shakespeare on the Stage: What I Learned about Teaching in Acting Class.." 6.2 Spring 2006. Pg. 310. EBSCOhost. Web. 11 Mar 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.lib.cwu.edu/ehost/detail?hid=110&sid=84f49e86-2fe5-4bfa-86f7-2e2a81d89c38%40sessionmgr114&vid=6&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=20533384>.