Texts: Audition Books
“ONCE MORE UNTO THE SPEECH DEAR FRIENDS’,
(VOL. 1, THE COMEDIES; VOL. 2, THE HISTORIES; VOL. 3, THE TRAGEDIES)
There has been a great change over the last twenty years in actor auditions, which now require the demonstration of enormous flexibility. The actor is expected to show more range than ever before, and often several shorter audition speeches are asked for instead of one or two longer ones.
To stay at the top of his or her game, the Shakespearean actor needs more knowledge of what makes the play tick, especially since the early plays demand a different style from the later ones. Each genre (comedy, history, tragedy) has different requirements. Parts written for older, more experienced actors require a different approach from those written for younger characters, especially the female roles which were originally played by young male actors extraordinarily skilled in the art of rhetoric.
No current monologue book deals directly with the bulk of these concerns. Once More Unto the Speech Dear Friends now fills that gap. This three-volume set will help actors discover the extra details of humanity that the original Folio texts automatically offer.
- Each book contains at least 300 separate audition possibilities, the total of 900 offers 600 more monologues than in any other series and is useful for beginners as well as more experienced actors.
- Each volume contains a detailed introduction to how to explore the Folio for extra theatrical information above and beyond that offered by most modern texts.
- At the beginning of each play the speeches are coded as suitable for women, men, or either sex: approximate audition time is offered with speeches ranging from twenty-five seconds to three minutes.
- There are four parts to each speech:
- A background to the speech, placing it in context of the play and scene, and offering line length and approximate timing to help you choose what might be right for any auditioning occasion.
- A modern text version of the speech with unobtrusive symbols to show where editors have changed the original text’s sentence structure, capitalization, and spelling. This version would be ideal for those not used to the First Folio or for those with no interest in exploring anything other than a modern text .
- The original Folio version of the speech, also with unobtrusive symbols to show where modern texts have intensified or diminished, added or removed punctuation.
- Commentary to explain the differences between the two texts and how the original Folio can offer more information to explore.
Print copies only: please contact Applause Books www.applausepub.com
Sample Pages
Click on the following links to view three sample pages of the Facsimile Texts:
- Front Covers: The Comedies, The Histories , The Tragedies
- Sample Page (illustrative for all three texts)
- Back Cover (illustrative for all three texts)
Audition Books (available through Applause Books)
- Once More unto the Speech, Dear Friends - Volume I: The Comedies
Applause Books - Once More Unto The Speech, Dear Friends - Volume II: The Histories
Applause Books - Once More unto the Speech, Dear Friends - Volume III: The Tragedies
Applause Books
