The Shakespeare Variations

At long last, The Shakespeare Variations (the new book on a theatrical approach to the maestro's rhythmic magic, verbal delights (and a little bit on logical necessities) is ready to go!


The Variations unabashedly tackles the shibboleths of scansion, including the usual technical terms which may be poetically valid but don't help with the all-important theatrical question for the actor/character,  "why" here and why “now”, and it challenges the concepts of readjusting lines so that they automatically become metrically correct. 


With a generous helping of sound cues, quotes from all manner of verbal masters, and lots of example the Variations offers 


* a theatre friendly, simple, practical (and sometimes physical) heartbeat/heartbreak redefinition to all types of scansion (in verse and possibly prose!), so that both the meaning of the text and it’s all important lilt and flow can be easily harnessed and ridden for the delight of both actor and audience
* essential clues as to when a character is in self-control (and when not) both logically and emotionally
* ideas on how to enjoy and revel in wordplay and oratory
* easy access to the keys of debate and argument
* distinguishing for the actor and director (even academic) caught between the whirlpools of beat and stress so as to use them both but separately without being overcome by them