The Shakespeare Toolkit: a practice-first pedagogy for performing Shakespeare – Part 1

In the twenty-first-century British theatre industry, productions of Shakespeare's plays have a significant role in programming from the fringe to the National Theatre. For an actor to develop and present a role from Shakespeare's canon, they must adhere to the demands of a text written in both verse and heightened rhetorical prose. In actor training and performing arts education, the pedagogical practices used to equip learners with the requisite skills are rooted in verbal reasoning, a cerebral approach to developing the role, which involves dissecting the text and analysing the literary devices at work as the primary means of engaging with the plays. Such approaches are in opposition to Stanislavsky-based techniques, which are rooted in a practice-first approach to character development. As Stanislavsky's "system", interpretations and adaptations of his methodology underpin the majority of text-based acting practices within British performer training; this conflict in approaches to creating a role can establish barriers to learning and an apprehension towards performing Shakespeare. In response, I developed the Shakespeare Toolkit through Practice as Research (PaR): a practice-first, character-led pedagogy rooted in principles and vocabulary drawn from Stanislavsky's "system", alongside Elizabethan acting practices and First Folio technique. Comprising twenty tools designed for actor training in both Further and Higher Education, the Toolkit also has applications as a rehearsal methodology in professional theatre. This three-part essay series explores the research and application of the Shakespeare Toolkit. The first essay outlines the theoretical landscape in which the Toolkit was developed and contextualizes the PaR methodology employed. The second offers a detailed analysis of the initial tools and their use in supporting a practice-first encounter with the text. The final essay reflects on how Stanislavsky's "Laws of Speech" were adapted to work with the rhetorical punctuation of the First Folio and examines how these principles are explored through practical tools in the Toolkit.