I’m a professional actor who has had some moderate success in Shakespearean roles over the years (Polonius, Lord Capulet, etc.) but I’ve auditioned for Richard III and will be playing the titular man himself. I find the character very fun to explore, and there’s so much potential in what I’m able to do with him, but I find myself overwhelmed with all of the potential and the sheer amount of time I’m going to be central to the performance.

Some tips or important keys to keeping this character’s portrayal strong would be appreciated.

Basically: What do you think makes a good Richard performance work?

I'm doing a performing arts course in college and our current assignment is about auditions, where we have to perform 2 monologues (Contemporary and Shakespeare) and a song. I've been giving the "Look here upon th's picture" speech from Act 3, Scene 4 of Hamlet.

One of my issues is doing the research on the play. Researching has never been something I'm good at and the information for me can be hard to process a lot of the time. Especially when it comes to reading.

When I do try to do research for a play I'm doing, I tend to watch either the film adaptations, or the recorded stage productions to get the gist of what the story is about. But I just can't get into the Shakespearean stuff.

It's the language, I just don't understand any of it. I try to watch the 1948 film with Laurence Olivier but I couldn't watch 15 minutes of it (purely because of the poor sound quality making it harder to understand what they're saying). And I also tried watching the David Tennant version and I watched about a third of it but still, it's the language that becomes the issue for me.

So how can I understand the Shakespearean language to put me in a better place?

I'm just worried about the panel asking me questions about Hamlet and not giving a correct answer because I don't understand the play's meaning. Plus in a few months time for my FMP we're doing a production of a Midsummer Night's Dream and I know that's going to stress me out.

Having read The Tempest, Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet, I feel like Hamlet is much more difficult to understand. I’ve read the first two acts and although I’m enjoying it, it feels much more dense and packed than his other plays by far. Is this a common experience?

Starting Richard II tonight! I'd love to catch all its nuances and details. Tell me everything I need to know! Thanks!

hiya!! i've been looking at ma shakespeare studies at kcl as well as ma shakespeare at birmingham. i'm aware kcl is a lot more expensive than birmingham but it has a well-known reputation for research and high quality facilities. could anyone who's done ma shakespeare studies provide me insight on what the course is like? also, does having access to the globe theatre and the indoor Sam Wanamaker playhouse benefit your devising ability?

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm looking for books and critiques on Hamlet that put forth new or interesting ideas. They don't necessarily even have to be good, I just want to look at a new viewpoint on the play that has some creativity to it, whether it's an inspired book based on the original work or an interesting critique. Any help is greatly appreciated, I'm just reading for enjoyment.