ABSTRACT
One of the biggest challenges that actors and directors face when approaching Shakespeare is finding their way into the language. If they are new to working on Shakespeare, perhaps it has to do with acquiring the tools necessary to work on heightened texts; if they already have such tools, the challenge might be in finding a way to forge a relationship with that particular text and discover what is unique about it. Some of what we will look at has to do with the way that Shakespeare uses meter because most of his texts are written in verse, or poetry. In Shakespeare, verse is usually reserved for characters in heightened situations or for those who are of a high status. Aside from sounding like a 1980s punk rock band, there are some fairly regular "irregularities" that the actor will discover in Shakespeare's texts.
