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Shakespeare
Survival Kit
Finding a Shakespeare Piece for You
The world of Shakespeare seems to hold something for everyone who gives it a chance. In his plays you can find
romance, betrayal, action, truth, evil plots, strategy, history, and even a fair amount of light and beauty. Shakespeares
characters were written to portray Extreme emotions found in human nature. It is not uncommon to find serious envy,
annoying self-centered-ness, and undying love in the majority of his works! He also created many distinct and memorable
characters of all different backgrounds and personality types in order to communicate the social themes he was trying to
get across.
As you look for a monologue or scene that will show your best qualities as a actor/person keep in mind the
following hints…
1. Unless you are specifically asked to do so, DO NOT try and play a character that is MUCH older than you. If
you are a teenager, find pieces from characters that are from the ages 12-25. (There are a few exceptions to
this rule, but it is highly advised that you stick to your own age range.)
2. Always, Always, ALWAYS pick a piece that has a character that is the same gender as you! Shakespeare wrote
his men and women VERY differently. Don’t pick a monologue just for the heck of it without checking the
gender of the character.
3. Figure out what your strengths are and use them.
a. If you are great at being humorous and comedies speak to you, find a piece that is either lighthearted
or sarcastic.
i. Examples: The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Merchant of
Venice, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, and Two Gentlemen of
Verona are all examples of comedies.
b. If deep thoughts and heavy emotions fit in your bones, stick to the more dramatic side of things.
i. Examples: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Othello, Macbeth, Richard III, Joan of
Arc, Antony and Cleopatra, and A Winter’s Tale are some of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies
as well as history plays.
4. Don’t be afraid to be unique. Some pieces are more common than others (Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are
the most popular) mostly because they are clear and entertaining. If you feel that you will do best with a piece
that is more popular, your challenge is to make it new and exciting. However, if you decide to choose a piece
that is not as frequently used, the trick is to find one that is, a) not boring, and b) clearly understandable with
a specific objective that the character is fighting for. There are plenty of sections of Shakespeare where
characters go on and on for well over a minute, but this does not necessarily mean that those chunks will
make a quality, motivated, and moving performance.
5. Find a character that you connect with.
a. Girls:
i. Women who are going through trying circumstances: Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Viola and
Olivia (Twelfth Night), Ophelia (Hamlet), Rosalind (As You Like It), Hermia and Helena
(Midsummer), Miranda (Tempest), Lady Anne (Richard III)
ii. Silly girls: Julia (Two Gentlemen of Verona), Phoebe (As You Like It)
iii. Confident women: Beatrice (Much Ado), Kathrine (Taming of the Shrew)
iv. Mature women seeking justice/power/revenge: Queen Margaret (Henry IV), Lady Macbeth
(Macbeth), Hermione (A Winter’s Tale)
b. Boys:
i. Clever Men: Benedick (Much Ado), Petrucio (Taming of the Shrew), Launce (Two Gentlemen)
ii. Men suffering tragedy: Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Othello (Othello), Anthony (Julius
Caesar), Hamlet (Hamlet).
iii. Kingly Men: Henry (Henry V), Orsino (Twelfth Night), Lord Capulet (Romeo and Juliet)
iv. Men who seek to get gain/power/revenge: Iago (Othello), Macbeth (Macbeth), Richard
(Richard III), Don John (Much Ado)
These are only a few, very basic examples for you to use. When searching for pieces, the internet can be one of
your biggest tools. Here are some sites you may consider using:
Monologueshttp://www.shakespeare-monologues.org/
http://www.monologuearchive.com/s/shakespeare_william.html
http://www.findshakespeare.com/monologues
Sceneshttp://www.playshakespeare.com (pick a scene and then use Google to find the text)
http://www.bardweb.net/scenes.html#links
www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=2142
Shakespeare Rehearsal Tips
So, you’ve been given a Shakespearean piece to memorize…Where do you start?
Performing Shakespeare can be an AMAZING experience. The trick is, you really need to know what you’re doing in
order to feel successful. The following steps are guidelines to help you gain the confidence you will need to perform your
piece to the best of your ability. If you choose to heed this advice you may be amazed at how helpful it is!
Step 1- Making Sense Of It All:
Let’s face the facts, Shakespeare is OLD. The language he used in his writings was tricky even for his day and age!
Don’t worry though, you are capable of translating his words into something that makes sense. Follow these steps:
1. Become familiar with the play that your piece comes from.
 Sparknotes has a great program online that can help you on your translating journey. Become familiar with the
plot (story), characters, settings, and themes of the play because these details will help your performance be
exceptionally strong!
2. If you don't understand a word or phrase, look it up, figure it out, learn something new.
 Google is a wonderful definition resource. You might also look into Sparknotes (No Fear Shakespeare), or
purchasing a Shakespearean Lexicon (not required).
3. Use Scansion to help you break down the piece and find meaning in the words. (See scansion sheet.)
4. Answer the following questions on the back of your piece (to keep them close in case you need a refresher).
 What is the plot (story) of this play?
 What is the time period I am going to set it in? (Shakespeare usually has a very flexible time period!)
o Ex: I choose to set my Hamlet piece in the early 80’s because I feel that the social unrest of that time and
the social unrest of Hamlet’s situation match up. Also, it would be fun to dress in 80’s clothes for the
performance.
 What are the character’s relations? (Consider sketching out a simple “Family Tree” for the characters.)
 What is the theme/message of this play?
 What part does my character play in the big picture? (Ex: Servant, head of household, queen of a nation, etc.)
5. Explain what you’ve learned to someone else, then ask for their input.
 Talking things out with other people can open up new ways of understanding for you. Get their opinion and then
decide if you agree!
2- Committing It To Memory:
Difficult words can be a challenge to memorize, but guess what, you can do hard things!
1. Complete Step 1. Knowing the background of your piece will help it to make more sense to you, thus you will be
able to remember it easier because it doesn’t feel quite so much like a foreign language! (Imagine that!)
2.Use any or all of these memorization strategies. (Or create one of your own!)
 Type or Write it down over and over and over and over and over and over again.
 Recite it while walking around (the movement helps set the words into your brain)
 Read/Speak through it right when you wake up and just before bed.
3. Use other people. (Again.)
 Recite your piece to anyone who will take the time to listen.
 Ask those your recite to if they can hold your paper and help you along.
 Take note of the parts you continually mess up on and focus on them until you’ve got it.
Step 3- Bringing It To Life:
No one, and I seriously mean NO ONE, enjoys two dimensional Shakespeare. Sure, you know the plot/background,
and yeah you’re totally memorized, but if you perform your piece without Character and Feeling, I’m sorry, but you will
be as boring as toast.
1. Complete Steps 1 and 2. Being memorized and knowing who your character is will give you acting clues.
2. Answer these questions (as if you were your character) on the back of your paper:
 What do I want? What am I willing to do to obtain it?
 What do I fear? Why do I fear it?
 What do I love/dream of? Why?
 In this piece, what emotions should I be feeling? Why?
 What message am I trying to get across to the other characters/audience? How will I do this?
3. Perform your piece for multiple audiences. Ask for feedback and let the piece change and grow to become better.
4. Come to school ready to work and reshape your performance!
Scansion
Shakespeare wrote most of his works using verse (poetic) writing. He chose Iambic Pentameter most likely for the
specific rhythm it provides which puts emphasis on certain words and allows the characters to speak in almost a speaksinging format. It also pushes actors to combine sentences thus creating a certain flow to the speech. For more serious
characters or moments when he did not want sing-song dialogue, he wrote in prose (non-poetic, traditional writing).
Iambic Pentameter:
 There are 10 Syllables per line.
o If there is an extra syllable it means you must either slice a vowel or there is an emotional significance in
the meaning of the line.
 Slicing a vowel: Juliet (3 syllables) = Jul’et (2 syllables)
 Syllables are broken into pairs (also called feet) making 5 feet per line (PENTameter).
o Divide the line up using lines to make the 5 feet clear
|A hea|vier task| could not| have been| impos'd|
 The emphasis is on the 2nd syllable of each pair.
o ↺ = Soft, /= emphasis
↺ / ↺ /
↺ /
↺ / ↺/
|Than I |to speak| my griefs| unspeak|able;|
Practice: Sonnet # 16
But wherefore do not you a mightier way
Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?
And fortify your self in your decay
With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?
Now stand you on the top of happy hours,
And many maiden gardens, yet unset,
With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers,
Much liker than your painted counterfeit:
So should the lines of life that life repair,
Which this, Time's pencil, or my pupil pen,
Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,
Can make you live your self in eyes of men.
To give away yourself, keeps yourself still,
And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.
Basic Terminology:
Rhythm- Any wavelike recurrence of motion or sound.
Meter- The kind of rhythm that you can tap your foot to; the accents are arranged in some pattern.
Verse: Metrical Language; text that consciously uses meter for expression.
Prose: Non-metrical language.
Line: A group of feet.
Stanza: A group of lines.
Shakespeare Myth-Busters
Bust these Myths with FACTS! Or prove that they are indeed Myths...
Pick 3 of the following “Myths” about Shakespeare and research them. Prove that they are truly myths or bust them by
writing down your research and your sources (ie: where you got your information from).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Writing was his profession.
Shakespeare died a very wealthy man.
Two of Shakespeare’s plays have been translated into Klingon.
There are only two Shakespeare plays written entirely in verse.
Shakespeare lived to 52.
He worked alone.
Shakespeare lived through the plague.
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and she was 26.
The Globe Theater in England is the original performing space of his pieces.
Shakespeare had three children.
He wrote for the Queen of England.
Shakespeare is the second most quoted writer in the English language.
Shakespeare has no descendants.
His works were published in his lifetime.
Suicide occurs an unlucky thirteen times in Shakespeare’s plays.
Write your research here:
1.
2.
3.
What is the most interesting thing you learned about The Bard??
Shakespearean Compliments
Use one word from each column below:
Column A
Column B
Rare
Honey-tongued
Column C
Smilet
Sweet
Well-wishing
Toast
Fruitful
Fair-faced
Cukoo-bud
Brave
Best-tempered
Nose-herb
Sugared
Tender-hearted
Wafer-cake
Flowering
Tiger-booted
Pigeon-egg
Precious
Smooth-faced
Welsh cheese
Gallant
Thunder-darting
Song
Delicate
Sweet-suggesting
True-penny
Celestial
Young-eyed
Valentine
Shakespearean Insults
Use one word from each column below:
Column A
Column B
craven
beef-witted
Column C
apple-john
churlish
common-kissing
coxcomb
boil-brained
flap-mouthed
flap-dragon
gleeking
ill-breeding
miscreant
goatish
onion-eyed
moldwarp
infectious
pox-marked
popinjay
tottering
lily-livered
rascal
rank
unwash'd
toad
wimpled
doghearted
bladder
artless
earth-vexing
dewberry
villainous
idle-headed
harpy
odiferous
sheep-biting
hugger-mugger
poisonous
toad-spotted
wagtail
frothy
clay-brained
knave
paunchy
ill-nurtured
pigeon-egg
weedy
rough-hewn
vassal
droning
gut-griping
bugbear
surly
tickle-brained
nut-hook
wayward
dizzy-eyed
mumble-news
infectious
fat-kidneyed
gudgeon
spongy
dismal-dreaming
bumbailey
spleeny
elf-skinned
clack-dish
tottering
hasty-witted
hedge-pig
vain
motley-minded
wag-tail
warped
swag-bellied
joithead