Shakespeare Expressed

Kathyrn M. Moncrief is professor and chair of English at Washington College.Kathryn R. McPherson is professor of English at Utah Valley University.Sarah Enloe is the Director of Education at the American Shakespeare Center.

A collection of essays originally presented on the Blackfriars stage at the American Shakesepeare Center, Shakespeare Expressed brings together scholars and practitioners, often promoting ideas that can be translated into classroom experiences. Drawing on essays presented at the Sixth Blackfriars Conference, held in October 2011, the essays focus on Shakespeare in performance by including work from scholars, theatrical practitioners (actors, directors, dramaturgs, designers), and teachers in a format that facilitates conversations at the intersection of textual scholarship, theatrical performance, and pedagogy. The volume's thematic sections briefly represent some of the major issues occupying scholars and practitioners: how to handle staging choices, how modern actors embody early modern characters, how the physical and technical aspects of early modern theaters previously impacted and how they currently affect performance, and how the play texts can continue to enlighten theatrical and scholarly endeavors. A special essay on pedagogy that features specific classroom exercises also anchors each section in the collection. The result is an eclectic, stimulating, and forward-thinking look at the most current trends in early modern theater studies.

Foreword: Lightning in a BottleRalph Alan CohenChapter 1: Introduction: Shakespeare Embodied, Expressed, and EnactedKathryn Moncrief and Kathryn McPherson:I. The Body of the ActorChapter 2: Speaking in the Silence: Deaf Performance at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalLezlie CrossChapter 3: "I Have Given Suck:" The Maternal Body in Sarah Siddons' Lady MacbethChelsea PhillipsChapter 4: Competing HeightsJemma Alix LevyChapter 5: The Mirror and the Monarchs: Suggestive Presences and Shakespeare's Cast-SizeBrett GamboaChapter 6: Embodying Shakespeare: In the ClassroomMiriam GilbertII. Playing the TextChapter 7: Remember the Porter: Knock-Knock Jokes, Tragedy, and Other Unfunny ThingsChris BarrettChapter 8: Ghost in the Machine: Shakespeare, Stanislavski and Original PracticesPeter KanelosChapter 9: "Speake[ing] the speech[es]:" Reassessing the Playability of the Earliest Printings of HamletMatthew VadnaisChapter 10: A "Ha" in Shakespeare: The Soliloquy as Excuse and Challenge to the AudienceBill GelberChapter 11: A Knave to Know a Knock: Exploring Character Function in Scenic StructureSymmonie PrestonIII. Staging ChoicesChapter 12: Behind Closed Doors: Perspective and Painterly Technique on the Early Modern English StageJennifer LowChapter 13: Shticky Shakespeare: Exploring Action as EloquenceSid RayChapter 14: Seeing Ghosts: Hamlet and Modern Original PracticesFiona Harris-Ramsby & Kathryn McPhersonChapter 15: Remembrances of yours': Properties, Performance, and Memory in Shakespeare's Hamlet 3.1Kathryn MoncriefChapter 16: The Mirror of All Christian Kings: Choral Medievalism in the Henry V FolioChristina GutierrezChapter 17: Playing with Character-Audience Members in Early Modern PlayhousesSarah EnloeIV. Playhouse and Playing ConditionsChapter 18: Blackfriars Stage-Sitters and the Staging of The Tempest, The Maid's Tragedy and The Two Noble KinsmenLeslie ThomsonChapter 19: "The Concourse of People on the Stage": An Alternative Proposal for Onstage Seating at the Second BlackfriarsNova MyhillChapter 20: The Two Blackfriars Theatres: Discontinuity or Contiguity?Jeanne McCarthyChapter 21: "Here sit we down...": The Location of Andrea and Revenge in The Spanish TragedyAnnalisa CastaldoChapter 22: Thomas Middleton's Use of the Gallery SpaceChristine ParkerChapter 23: Performing Space: Playing the ArchitectureDoreen BechtolV. Technical and Material MattersChapter 24: Light and Heat in the PlayhousesAnn Jennalie CookChapter 25: Lighting Effects in the Early Modern Private PlayhousesLauren ShellChapter 26: Sound TrumpetsAlisha HuberChapter 27: Play it again, Hal: The 1605 Revival of Henry VMelissa AaronChapter 28: Playing with Early Modern Special EffectsCass Morris