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John Barton – Playing Shakespeare – Word Of Mouth – Bonus: Shakespeare Sessions These were up on Green Demon at one time and aren’t my Rip, but if you decide to share on another site, please seed the crap out of them so they won’t be lost and others have a chance to learn from these fantastic resources.PLAYING SHAKESPEARE – Lifted From Amazon:This series of 9 episodes (Or should we call them “instructions” in Shakespeare acting?) seem like they were shot yesterday. They are timeless. What, if anything is staged? What is entirely impromptu? It’s hard to say, nay, impossible. It’s that well done. The wealth within this educational, academic experience is difficult to quickly review, but we’ll give it a go.”Playing SHAKESPEARE” is the DVD presentation of acting workshops, done like a play rehearsal underway, shot in 1982, led by John Barton, who is himself entertaining, plus an encyclopedia on Shakespearean acting. He directed over 50 plays by the (RSC) Royal Shakespeare Company. A Cambridge professor. His main interest in this series is teaching toward the marriage of the Elizabethan acting tradition and modern times or style. It is instruction dedicated to the actor–but it is of interest to so many more.Through detailed Shakespeare direction, Barton has provided a series that will delight all lovers of the celebrated playwright. Additionally it will encourage the viewer who is newly attempting appreciation of Shakespeare and his works. Novice Shakespearean audiences will want for more, want for a complete play to view.Much of the success of this series is the famous & talented actors being instructed. The top of the U.K. entertainers, both within the RSC and out. The BONUS FEATURES of this DVD set includes several of their bios and RSC credits. Some, not all as there are over 20, are:Peggy Ashcorft, 1907-1991, having at some time performed near all Shakespeare’s female roles.Judi Dench, UK Superstar, fantastic in “As Time Goes By”Ben Kingsley, “Gandhi” and “Schindler’s List” to name but 2Ian McKellan, “The Lord of the Rings” fans will rememberPatrick Stewart, would you believe “Star Trek: The Next Generation”David Sachet, “Poirot”, need more be said–yes–“The Way We Live Now”Shakespeare wrote, “Our revels now are ended.” Nay, Nay.Here’s the list of Episodes (Learning bits)1 THE TWO TRADITIONS . . . . . . .2 USING THE VERSE3 LANGUAGE AND CHARACTER . . . . .4 EXPLORING A CHARACTER5 SET SPEECHES AND SOLILOQUIES . .6 IRONY AND AMBIGUITY7 PASSION AND COOLNESS . . . . . .8 REHEARSING THE TEXT9 POETRY AND HIDDEN POETRYEach is a to-die-for opportunity for the student or the follower of Shakespeare. Not a full play or dramatic film, but an academic experience set in a working studio using excerpts.In #3 language and words are discussed like Shakespeare’s double syllable use of the word Ti-ime. And his often capitalization of the word, even when it’s not the beginning word in the sentence. By watching another fine educational DVD series, “The Adventure of English”, one can learn Shakespeare invented over 2000 words.___Also in this segment, John Barton is coaxed into performing a bit of Shakespeare, which he does twice again during episode 9.___#4 is outstanding when Shylock (The Merchant of Venice) is performed by Suchet (who is Jewish) and Stewart. Both have played the role in RSC under Barton’s direction. The 3 demonstrate how Shakespeare characters can be played in different ways, all being good. Suchet also suggests to view this play, not as anti-Semitic, but without the 20th century Holocaust prejudice.Other bonus extras include a trailer for “Slings & Arrows” and the much valuable SUBTITLES, recommended to be used by all, to catch the full value of the Shakespeare words.This DVD set makes me thirst for a Shakespeare play–a Shakespearean Sundae.If you are a William Shakespeare lover–DL.If you are an actor, or student of theatre–DL.If you are curious of those often talked about plays–DL.WORD OF MOUTHCan’t find much info on this. Seems to be John Barton on TV teaching more Shakespeare.Bonus!!THE SHAKESPEARE SESSIONS – 2003“Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounc’d it to you, trippingly on the tongue…”. Legendary founders of the Royal Shakespeare Company, John Barton and Sir Peter Hall, reveal the secrets to bringing the Bard to life, as world-renowned American actors focus on language as the way into Shakespeare’s magical world. Barton and Hall, who revolutionized the way Shakespeare is performed in Britain, travel to America to work with Kevin Kline, Dustin Hoffman, David Hyde Pierce, Cynthia Nixon, Liev Schreiber, and Charles S. Dutton. The documentary explores the keys Barton and Hall have discovered over the course of their extraordinary careers to unlocking the way Shakespeare writes and the way actors can interpret the text to make these plays accessible to modern audiences. Barton has been acclaimed as “the Shakespeare swami” by three generations of great RSC actors, from Ian McKellan and Judy Dench to Harriet Walter (who appears in the film). Sessions includes some of Shakespeare’s most famous scenes in remarkable new interpretations by an extraordinary cast. Other actors appearing in the documentary include Patrick Stewart, Lynn Collins, Peter Francis James, and Janet Suzman.http://www.storyville.org/the-shakespeare-sessions- Premiered on PBSI love acting and actors and have dedicated my life to the study of it. It pleases me to see people interested in the craft. Have Fun!PS – If you are interested in Playing Shakespeare, please consider contributing to the Michael Chekhov MasterClass Acting GB here:…