About the Book:

A Shakespearean Actor Prepares reveals Shakespeare's own keys to acting and the art of the theatre.

Shakespeare knew more than any other playwright about the art of acting and the art of theatre; practitioners affirm this. While creating superhuman characters and setting them in situations that stretch the imagination to its limits, he also provided his actors with the keys to playing them. British actor-director Adrian Brine and his longtime colleague, Shakespearean actor Michael York, reveal these keys, as they analyze in detail Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, among other works. They offer specific instruction on how to read, understand and speak Shakespearean dialogue. A Shakespearean Actor Prepares will demystify Shakespeare's language and remind actors that Shakespeare tells them how they can personalize roles.

There is no general consensus about how Shakespeare should be played: there are no rules. A Shakespearean Actor Prepares will demystify Shakespeare's language and remind actors that Shakespeare tells them how they can personalize roles. Adrian Brine and Michael York point out the sources of energy in his plays, which, if tapped, will galvanize actors' fantasies and liberate their talent.

What people say:

"In meticulous, graceful prose, Brine and York illustrate what makes Shakespeare such an enduring and vital source for actors who want to hone their craft and for writers polishing their storytelling skills. ...The book’s simplicity adds to its value; the authors have no desire to flaunt their knowledge. They want readers to share the awe and delight they feel about the Bard, and through expert analysis and carefully selected examples, they make you eager to re-read those plays with which you are familiar and explore those with which you are not." — Variety

"A triumph… the most illuminating study of the dramatist since Granville Barker's Prefaces. It deserves to become a classic." — The Spectator

"This is the book that I and my colleagues have been awaiting many long years. A Shakespearean Actor Prepares will likely become the definitive book on this topic." — Ronald G. Shafer, Professor of English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania

"Theater professionals and theater lovers will find this an invaluable addition to their Shakespeare library." — Louis Fantasia, Director, International Shakespeare Globe Center, London

"This book is indispensable for actors and directors, students and teachers, at all levels of expertise, who engage in staging Shakespeare's works in any venue." — Kay Stanton, Shakespeare Specialist and Professor of English Literature, California State University, Fullerton

About the Author:

Adrian Brine is an English actor and director. In the course of over thirty years, he has played and directed in more than twenty of Shakespeare's plays, both in England and in Europe. In 1975 he was the first in Belgium to stage Shakespeares in a relica of the Elizabethan playhouse. Working principally in Europe, he is chiefly associated with the Compangie du Rideny, Brussels, and was for six years artistic consultant at the Belgian National Theatre. For his services to the theatre in Belgium, he was decorated Chevalier de L'Ordre de la Covronne. He has taught theatre throughout Europe, including London, Brusells, and Amsterdam.

Michael York, OBE is an English actor. He first acted in a Shakespeare play at school, and later with Britian's National Youth Theatre and at Oxford University. A professional actor for thirty years, he has performed the Bard on both stage and screen, notably in Franco Zeffirelli's films The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet. He is involved in the rebuilding of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London and has recently lectured extensively on Shakespeare and the theatre. Although living in Los Angeles where he is Chairman of the California Youth Theatre, he continues to find that all the world's a stage.