Speak the Speech! Shakespeare's Monologues Illuminated

The most comprehensive sourcebook of Shakespeare's monologues ever available in one volume. A detailed guide to approaching Shakespearean text, Speak the Speech! contains everything an actor needs to select and prepare a Shakespeare monologue for classwork, auditions, or performance. Included herein are over 150 monologues. Each one is placed in context with a brief introduction, is carefully punctuated in the manner that best illustrates its meaning, and is painstakingly and thoroughly annotated. Each is also accompanied by commentary that will spark the actor's imagination by exploring how the interrelationship of meter and the choice of words and sounds yields clues to character and performance. And throughout the book sidebars relate historical, topical, technical, and other useful and entertaining information relevant to the text. In addition, the authors include an overview of poetic and rhetorical elements, brief synopses of all the plays, and a comprehensive index along with other guidelines that will help readers locate the perfect monologue for their needs. More than just an actor's toolkit, Speak the Speech! is also an entertaining resource that will help demystify Shakespeare's language for the student and theater lover alike.

Rhona Silverbush studied theatre and psychology at Brandeis University and holds a law degree from Boston College Law School. She has acted with regional theatre and Shakespeare companies and has directed and taught drama and Shakespeare. Currently, she coaches professional actors, lectures, writes, and is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University’s Teachers College. She and her husband live in New York City with their two aging feline divas.

Sami Plotkin graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University with a double major in Theatre Arts and English Literature, and honed her stagecraft in London under the tutelage of Royal Shakespeare Company members. She later earned her M.F.A. at Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Sami has performed Shakespeare in the United States and on tour in Europe and the former Soviet Union; she now works as an actor, screenwriter, and playwright. During the hours when the New York Public Library is closed, she lives with her husband in Chelsea.

The authors were awarded a grant from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation for this book in 1999.