Shakespeare's plays as they were originally spoken

Scribhneoir

Reinventing Myself
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 1, 2006
Messages
1,165
Reaction score
134
Location
Southern California
Extremely interesting!

And is it just me or does the original pronunciation sound like Shakespeare as performed on Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day? I would love to see these versions.
 

ColoradoGuy

I've seen worse.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
6,696
Reaction score
1,534
Location
The City Different
Website
www.chrisjohnsonmd.com
Very interesting -- thanks for this.

My mother was a Shakespeare scholar and she used to hold forth about this from time to time at the dinner table.
 

Madeline Taylor

Registered
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Messages
35
Reaction score
5
Location
Europe
Awww, love, love, love David Crystal! What a brilliant guy. I did my M.A. thesis on Shakespeare and I generally read at least a bit of Mr. Bill every week. I only wish young people could go past the barriers and delve into the plays. The worlds I find in there always take my breath away... But I have found that even people who studied English tend to steer away from Shakespeare. Which, to my mind, is a sad and depressing fact. :(
 

Yorkist

Banned
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
1,974
Reaction score
572
Location
Navigating through the thorns.
Sorry, is this new? I remember hearing about this as an undergraduate ten years ago.

Favorite Shakespeare play is Much Ado About Nothing, for the sake of posterity. Absolutely adore Beatrice and Benedick. I 'ship them hardcore. :)
 

TerzaRima

Absinthe O'Malice
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
3,340
Reaction score
892
Location
the foulest in the land
It was mostly new to me. I figured it was fine, because I wasn't posting in Critical Theory and Philosophy of Language: Breaking News.
 

Yorkist

Banned
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
1,974
Reaction score
572
Location
Navigating through the thorns.
Oh, sorry, Terza. PC&E culture has warped my brain. Also I was legitimately confused. Like, did I dream that? Stranger things have happened.

Mea culpa. Mostly I just wanted to get my Beatrice and Benedick love out there.
 

ColoradoGuy

I've seen worse.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
6,696
Reaction score
1,534
Location
The City Different
Website
www.chrisjohnsonmd.com
Oh, sorry, Terza. PC&E culture has warped my brain. Also I was legitimately confused. Like, did I dream that? Stranger things have happened.

Mea culpa. Mostly I just wanted to get my Beatrice and Benedick love out there.

A decade or two either way doesn't matter much in this room.
 

Yorkist

Banned
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
1,974
Reaction score
572
Location
Navigating through the thorns.
Like I said, Colorado, maybe it's because of PC&E and maybe it's because I've got one foot in academia, but I was just really confused for a minute there. Thought I had an epic case of cerebral flatulence.

Glad that others are getting to know about this though!
 

Reziac

Resident Alien
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 20, 2010
Messages
7,451
Reaction score
1,177
Location
Brendansport, Sagitta IV
Website
www.offworldpress.com

PrincessOfCats

Registered
Joined
Sep 30, 2014
Messages
41
Reaction score
5
This stuff was brand new to me, thank you for posting it!

I ended up going and finding more videos made by the guy in the video you linked, and found an hour and a half long class he taught that put me in a constant state of 'Mind: Blown'. Romeo and Juliet's meeting being a shared sonnet, the way that he makes iambic pentameter canter for Richard III, the way he uses the meter of his verse to tell the actors when to speak and when to pause... the man was such a genius with language. He was a composer whose instrument of choice was actors.

What really stunned me was that some things I did back in my Shakespearean acting days which had been criticized by directors at the time turned out to be right. (Reversing the iambs for Puck's speeches in Midsummer Night's Dream, playing the 'Get Thee to a Nunnery' scene with Hamlet ranting nonstop and Ophelia talking over him, and the 'cantering' rhythm for Richard III's opening speech.) Feeling very in tune with the Bard right now.

Anyway, thank you so much for the link. I learned a lot.