Shakespeare References in Acting: The First Six Lessons

It probably comes as no surprise that a book on acting contains several Shakespeare references. Richard Boleslavsky's Acting: The First Six Lessons uses bits from several Shakespeare plays to illustrate its lessons. The book is presented as dialogue between a student referred to as "The Creature" and Richard, who is identified as "I." The first of Shakespeare's plays to be mentioned is King Lear. When I asks The Creature what she played, she responds, "King Lear" (p. 18). And when he asks which part she played, she answers, "King Lear himself" (p. 18). She goes on to say: "Our professor is very strict. He himself worked with me on King Lear" (p. 19). "I" asks, "But can you tell me how your professor, when working on King Lear, wanted you to play these lines for instance: 'Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!'" (p. 19). The Creatures responds, in part: "Then, as though cursing heaven, as loud as possible pronounce the words: 'Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!'" (p. 19). Richard replies, "Thank you, that is quite enough for a clear understanding of the part of King Lear, as well as for a definition of your talent" (p. 19). Boleslavsky then writes: "THE CREATURE: When you curse the heavens, you say it this way: 'Blooooow wiiiiinds, and Craaaaack your cheeks, Raaaaage Blooooow.' (The Creature tries very hard to curse the heavens but through the window I see the azure heavens laughing at the curse. I do the same.) And without cursing them, I must do it some other way. Well... I don't know how... Isn't it funny? Well, this way: (The Creature becomes confused and, with a charming smile, swallowing the words, hurriedly pronounces them all on one note.) 'Blowwindsandcrackyourcheeksrageblow.'" (p. 20). The next reference is to Hamlet: "I saw John Barrymore from the wings when he was playing Hamlet" (p. 22). Then the conversation returns to King Lear: "Is it easier to curse the heavens in King Lear?" (p. 26). Shakespeare is mentioned soon after that: "One can discuss Shakespeare, Moliere, Goethe, and Calderon only with a cultured actor who knows what these men stand for and what has been done in the theatres of the world to produce their plays" (pages 27-28). Then back to King Lear: "Is it another King Lear?" (p. 35). And: "You needn't be ashamed of anything, especially of that King Lear performance" (p. 35). Othello is also mentioned: "A good sensitive artist doesn't need any more than that to play Othello and Desdemona's final scene" (p. 48).

Boleslavsky also refers to Macbeth and Richard The Third: "Wouldn't you like to see and hear Mrs. Siddons right now, acting the lines: 'Here's the smell of the blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! Oh! Oh!' What would you give to learn what Mrs. Siddons did with those 'Oh! Oh! Oh!'s'? They say that people used to faint when she did it; we don't know. And wouldn't you like to hear David Garrick, in Richard III, scorn William Catesby: 'Slave! I have set my life upon a cast./And I will stand the hazard of the die.'" (p. 57). He then mentions Othello again: "I still remember Salvini's reaction when Iago would say: 'But he that filches from me my good name/Robs me of that which not enriches him,/And makes me poor indeed'" (p. 57). He also refers to The Taming Of The Shrew: "The Taming of the Shrew is a play where two people long to love each other in spite of their impossible characters, and succeed in their longing. It might also be a play about a man who triumphs over a woman by 'treating her rough'. It might be a play about a woman who makes everybody's life miserable. Do you grasp the difference?" (p. 62). He then writes, "you looked for words to oppose my arguments, you enjoyed a few Shakespearean lines, and with all that you covered about nine speeches" (pages 65-66).

Boleslavsky returns to Hamlet: "Certainly, only it is more difficult for the actor to keep it going without monotony - 'To be or not to be' has nine sentences with one single action" (p. 67). And then: "To be or not to be. Shakespeare did not take any chances with actors. He told them right in the beginning what he wanted them to do" (pages 67-68). Also about Hamlet: "He is not just a watchman  - he is a splendid impersonation of Francisco, Bernardo, or Marcellus at his post" (p. 74). Again, about Hamlet: "THE CREATURE: 'Good my lord,/How does your honour for this many a day?' (There is a warm sincere affection and respect in her voice. She speaks as if to an elder brother. Then she looks, with fear and trembling, for an imaginary answer. The answer comes.)" (p. 76). The Creature continues to quote Ophelia: "My lord, I have remembrances of yours/That I have longed to re-deliver;/I pray you, now receive them" (p. 176). And he describes her performance. Here are photos of the next few pages:

There is then a reference to Julius Caesar, with The Creature quoting, "Et tu, Brute?" (p. 81), before the two characters return to Hamlet: "It is Hamlet and nobody else. It is Ophelia and nobody else" (p. 85). And then he tells The Creature: "It could have been Lisa, Mary, Ann. But it was not Ophelia. The body was that of a young girl, but not Ophelia's. The mind was that of a young girl, but not Ophelia's" (p. 86). The Creature asks, "What kind of a body had Ophelia?" (p. 86). Soon he says to her: "And when, with that kind of hand, you grasp your heart, it will be a different gesture than the one you made. It will be Ophelia's hand clutching Ophelia's heart, not Miss So-and-So's hand grasping Miss So-and-So's heart" (p. 87). The Creature asks, "Do you mean to say that Ophelia should not think?" (p. 89). The response from "I": "I wouldn't be so rude as that, but I would say that Shakespeare did all the thinking for her. It is his mind at work which you should characterize while acting Ophelia, or for that matter, any Shakespearean character. The same goes forany author who has a mind of his own" (p. 89).

The Tempest, The First Part Of King Henry The Sixth, King Lear and Romeo And Juliet are then referred to: "All of that counts, without regard to whether he is writing words of Caliban or those of Jeanne d'Arc, or those of Osvald. A good writer's fool is no more foolish than his creator's mind, and a prophet no more wise than the man who conceived him. Do you remember Romeo and Juliet? Lady Capulet says about Juliet, 'She's not fourteen'. And then a few pages later Juliet speaks. 'My bounty is as boundless as the sea,/My love as deep; the more I give to thee,/The more I have, for both are infinite.' Confucius could have said that, or Buddha, or St. Francis. If you will try acting Juliet's part in a way which characterizes her mind as a fourteen-year-old mind, you'll be lost. If you try to make her older you'll ruin Shakespeare's theatrical conception which is that of a genius. If you try to explain it by the early maturity of Italian women, by the wisdom of the Italian Renaissance, and so forth, you will be all tangled up in archeology and history, and your inspiration will be gone. All you have to do is to grasp the characterization of Shakespeare's mind and follow it" (pages 90-91). He then continues: "Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to describe or explain Shakespeare's mind. No words can describe it. All I am trying to do is to tell you that whatever character of Shakespeare you perform, its mind (not yours but the character's) must have those qualities in its manifestation. You don't have to think like Shakespeare, but the outward quality of thinking must be his" (p. 91).

And regarding Hamlet again, Boleslavsky writes, "When you have mastered the general human emotions in the part, as you have in your Ophelia, when you know when and why anger comes, or pleading, sorrow, joy or despair, whatever the case demands, when it is all clear to you, start to look for one fundamental quality: freedom in expressing your emotions" (p. 93). The book then gets into a specific scene from Hamlet. Here are photos of those pages: 

That chapter ends with a couple of lines from Polonius: "The actors are come hither, my lord - /The best actors in the world..." (p. 96). Then in the next chapter Shakespeare is mentioned: "Shakespeare...Noel Coward..." (p. 100). That's followed by another reference to Macbeth: "She begins like a high priestess or Macbeth's witch, almost rolling back her sleeves" (p. 104). There is then another reference to Hamlet: "A battlefield exposed? The grave of "Poor Yorick"dug out?" (p. 111). There is yet another Hamlet reference, along with one to The Merchant Of Venice: "Suppose in the first act of The Merchant of Venice, Antonio should pay the money on the dot, change his religion and ask for the hand of Jessica... Don't laugh. I am serious. That is an exaggerated example. Here is a legitimate one: 'How all occasions do inform against me,/And spur my dull revenge!/... Rightly to be great/Is not to stir without great argument,/But greatly to find quarrel in a straw/When honour's at the stake.' Which is Hamlet - Act IV, Scene IV. All through Shakespeare you can find those marvelous sign posts for the actor. They are wisely concealed in the text of the plays" (pages 117-118). And then: "If Shakespeare had cast those two, he would have written: Rhythm - The Prince of Arts. Tempo - his bastard Brother" (p. 124). Boleslavsky then uses a speech from The Taming Of The Shrew:

And more from Hamlet: 

At the end of the book, there are advertisements for other theatre books, including A Shakespeare's Workbook by Bertram Joseph and Acting Shakespeare by Bertram Joseph.

Acting: The First Six Lessons was published in 1933. The copy I read was from the thirty-eighth printing, in 1994.