ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the underlying principles of actor training in Shakespeare that guide the author’s practice, sharing approaches to speaking Shakespeare learnt from theatre directors Peter Hall, John Barton, and voice director Cicely Berry at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and former course leader David Carey on the MA Voice Studies at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. A brief history of actor training and Shakespeare in the UK is given. The arguments surrounding an observance of Shakespeare’s clues in the text, and counter-arguments suggesting that the actor should not be bound by an absent author, are considered, with a view to devising approaches for those with dyslexia. The rationale for using Shakespeare as a research laboratory in which to trial strategies of facilitation for those with dyslexia is made explicit. This includes what dyslexic students find difficult about Shakespeare, how Shakespeare’s grammatical shifts can activate the brain, and how Shakespeare’s image-rich and action-based language can free those with dyslexia. The technical processes of how we read and construct the text, and some reader-response theories are presented. Finally, the need for the actor’s communication of the self through an authentic response to the text is analyzed, and how dyslexia can impede this self-authorship.
