All the Words on Stage: A Complete Pronunciation Dictionary for the Plays of William Shakespeare
By exploring the mechanics of Shakespeare's writing, these books  clearly illustrate how to speak and understand his texts and  ultimately break down the language barrier. Both cover 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, professor of the  techniques of voice and text at the same institution, present a  highly useful pronunciation dictionary, supplemented by a  glossary that defines character names, places, and unfamiliar  words. They use the International Phonetics Alphabet, respell  vowels 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. Rodenburg, director of voice at London's Royal National Theatre,  divides her training guide into four parts, offering practical  exercises that aid in comprehending the speeches that define a  character's mental state and intentions. Her book uses two  guideposts: the givens (including the word, the line, rhyme, and  the story) and the imaginative connections necessary to make a  piece engaging to both the actor and the audience. Many books  exist to help actors approach Shakespeare's works, but they tend  toward more general overviews. Both of these books are rich with  information and nicely focused. Recommended for academic and  larger public libraries. Elizabeth Stifter, Brooklyn, NYCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.