Shakespeare and Meisner: A Practical Guide for Actors, Directors, Students and Teachers

This practical handbook is invaluable for anyone performing, teaching, studying or simply wanting a new way to enjoy Shakespeare. It provides an outline of Meisner’s work and legacy, a discussion of that legacy in the light of the enduring global popularity of Shakespeare, and a wealth of practical exercises drawn from Meisner’s techniques. Shakespeare writes about the truth in human relationships and human hearts. Sanford Meisner's work unlocks truthful acting. They would seem a perfect match. Yet, following Meisner’s note to his actors that 'text is your greatest enemy’, Shakespeare and Meisner are often considered ‘strange bedfellows’. The rhetorical complexity of Shakespeare’s text can often be perceived as rules an actor must learn in order to perform Shakespeare ‘properly’. Meisner’s main rule is that 'you can’t say ouch until you’ve been pinched’: in other words, an actor must genuinely feel something in order to react in a performance which is alive to the moment. This book explores how actors can use Meisner’s tools of ‘acting is reacting’ to discover the infinite freedom within the apparent constraints of Shakespeare’s text.

Aileen Gonsalves is an actor, director and writer. She was Founder of Butterfly Theatre Collective, as well as creator of the Gonsalves Method. She was Head of the MA in Acting at ArtsEd, Head of Acting at Drama Studio London and has been an associate director for the RSC and Kali Theatre. She trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and specialised in Meisner. She is co-author of Shakespeare and Meisner for the Arden Performance Series (Bloomsbury, 2021).

Tracy Irish is an experienced teacher, theatre practitioner and scholar. She is an Associate Learning Practitioner with the Royal Shakespeare Company and works regularly with the University of Birmingham. Tracy has authored many resources, articles and books including Teaching and Learning Shakespeare through Theatre-based Practice, Shakespeare and Meisner and the RSC School Shakespeare editions.

Abigail Rokison-Woodall is Professor in Shakespeare and Theatre, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford upon Avon, UK and was formerly a professional actor.

Sir Simon Russell Beale is the leading Shakespearean actor of his generation, having played King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, Malvolio, Timon of Athens, Benedick, Falstaff, Prospero and Richard II.