Reviews

Joe Dowling, Artistic Director of the Guthrie Theater

"Anyone who has dedicated numerous rehearsal hours to explore and prepare for a production of Shakespeare will be delighted that this useful tool, painstakingly put together by Louis Scheeder and Shane Ann Younts, is available. Their comprehensive pronunciation dictionary blends thorough academic expertise with the practicalities of helping actors navigate the splendidly perilous ocean of Shakespeare's language so that the actors can satisfy Hamlet's request to speak their speeches 'trippingly on the tongue'."

Zelda Fichandler, Chair, NYU's Graduate Acting Program

"Since Shakespeare has become the most produced playwright in America, this book serves a wonderful purpose, throwing light where there has been considerable darkness. It tells you how to pronounce every single word (and their variants) in the Shakespearean canon, but that's not the end of it. Through pronunciation, verse form is revealed: rhythm can be established for the actor and, so, perceived by the audience. The book succeeds in dismantling the language to make it accessible to the actor and director and, through them to the many thousands who come somewhere, every night, to partake of Shakespeare's magic."

Zoe Caldwell

"If you read, play, direct, or even just fool around with Shakespeare, you must be the owner of All the Words on Stage."

From The Critics Library Journal

By exploring the mechanics of Shakespeare's writing, “All the Words on Stage” clearly illustrates how to speak and understand his texts and ultimately breaks down the language barrier. It covers the bard's powerful iambic pentameter and its effect on pronunciation, the irregularities that reveal the emotional and psychological state of each character, and how each word works in relation to another concerning prose, verse, blank verse, and rhyming verse. Scheeder, founder and director of the Classical Studio at New York University, and Younts, teacher of the Techniques of Voice and Text in the Graduate Acting Dept at the same institution, present a highly useful pronunciation dictionary. They use the International Phonetics Alphabet, respell words in their key to pronunciation, and intricately mark in scansion each word. When a word can be pronounced two different ways, they indicate both followed by the play, the act, and the scene in which each form is used. Many books exist to help actors approach Shakespeare's works, but they tend toward more general overviews. This book is rich with information and nicely focused. Recommended.

Joanne Zipay, Artistic Director, Judith Shakespeare Company

“For years, actors, directors, and dramaturges have struggled with a variety of materials for guidance on the pronunciation of Shakespeare's names, along with a multitude of other resources that helped with the pronunciation of obscure words appearing in his plays. Now the authors, who work in the rehearsal studio with these texts every day, have put everything – character names plus unfamiliar words – into one easy-to-carry book, with phonetic pronunciations that are so easy to read that they can be instantly applied. This is a groundbreaking work for everyone involved in the rehearsal process of Shakespeare's plays. Every Shakespeare actor or student should own a copy, and no rehearsal table should lack one or three copies for easy reference during every stage of the rehearsal process! Thank you for creating a terrific tool to assist us in this day-to-day process of moving the words off the page in order to bring them to life on the stage. Bravo!”

David Hammond, professor, Department of Dramatic Arts, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and Artistic Director of PlayMakers Repertory Company

“Thank you very much for your fine book. I will require it for my classes because it is better organized, clearer, and easier to use than any alternative. It should be in every actor’s backpack!”

Gail Kay Bell, actor New York City

“All the Words on Stage” is not only informative but essential to any actor who plans to perform any of the plays of William Shakespeare. It explains how to pronounce all of the words that appear in Shakespeare’s texts. It is as vital as the Shakespeare Lexicon. I recently completed a run of three Shakespeare plays from the history cycle, Richard II, Henry IV, Part l and Henry IV, Part 2. I found “All the Words on Stage” invaluable in my rehearsal process. I highly recommend it.”

Deborah Keller, actor New York City

“To perform or analyze Shakespeare well you need a few things; you need to know where the verse line ends, a lexicon, and a comprehensive pronunciation guide. How Do you say all those names? Does your state of emotion perhaps influence it. As an actor I want to know as much as I can about what is happening within the iambic pentameter so that the sense is married to the sound, as Hamlet iterates. It helps to have people beside you who care very deeply about all the words in Shakespeare. I respect the integrity with which the book was painstakingly put together, and the scholarship that went into considering each distinct verse line so that we might all have an invaluable tool for delving into the text and thence the world of Shakespeare.”

“Finally, no more stumbling and tripping over numerous names, places, gods, and words while trying to perform Shakespeare with confidence. “All the Words on Stage” is truly a gift; it abhors a vacuum and fills it. It shall sit proudly beside the Lexicon as my other indispensable source when scanning and preparing a piece of Shakespeare for performance or for my students.”