How to Speak Shakespeare - by Cal Pritner & Louis Coliaianni (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In How to Speak Shakespeare, authors Cal Pritner and Louis Colaianni teach readers how to make sound and sense out of the Bard. Their methods have taught thousands of people--from high school students to English literature and theater arts graduate students, from beginning actors to professional actors--how to understand and effectively communicate the poetry of Shakespeare.

In order to make the book user-friendly, the authors have organized it around passages from Romeo and Juliet. The material has been tested successfully with high school students, graduate students, amateur actors, and professional actors. The authors' teaching method is essentially a simple three step process: Test Your Understanding, Stress for Meaning, and Celebrate the Poetry. Classroom and rehearsal-tested exercises are included along with additional background on Shakespeare and his work.

Review Quotes

"""Mr. Colaianni and Mr. Pritner have created this important book devoted to the technique for speaking heightened texts on the stage. By studying the fundamentals Colaianni and Pritner here provide, the serious actor can begin a lifelong commitment to this important, and all too often ignored, essential part of the actor's tools." --Marco Baricelli, artistic associate, American Conservatory Theatre; Leading Actor, Oregon Shakespeare Festival

""How to Speak Shakespeare" is an invaluable, entertaining and informative book. This is the most accessible and unintimidating work on this subject I have read. It will be of equal interest to actors, scholars and lay people." --Vivian Matalon, Tony Award-winning director


"It is clear that "How to Speak Shakespeare" is not only for drama classes, but it can also be easily integrated into an English literature class. It provides a step-by-step guide to cracking the code of Shakespearean language and structure. . . . This book takes something that can be very daunting and makes it easier to understand." --"English Journal"


"This one won't sit long on the shelves after students and teachers discover it. Presented in the most simple--but not condescending--terms, Pritner and Colaianni teach readers how to understand and speak Shakespearean plays...lessons are easy to follow and written with a friendly hand. Thankfully, there are no synopses or critical interpretations, just excellent tutelage in Shakespeare's word usage, punctuation and poetry." --"Today's Librarian"

About the Author

Cal Pritner, Ph.D., has chaired theatre departments at Illinois State University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and served as the founding artistic director of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Dr. Pritner has been inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. He lives in New York City.

Louis Colaianni is an authority in voice, speech and Shakespeare performance. His innovative approach to phonetics and stage accents is used by dozens of theatre schools throughout the United States. He is an associate professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and has served on the faculties of the American Conservatory Theatre, Ohio University, and Hunter College among others. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri.