Shakespeare's Accents
Voicing Identity in Performance

A history of the reception of Shakespeare on the English stage focusing on the vocal dimensions of theatrical performance.

Sonia Massai (Author)

9781108429627, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 April 2020

239 pages
23.6 x 16 x 1.7 cm, 0.54 kg

'Sonia Massai's history of accents on the British stage gives readers what they need to hear: a cultural history of the reception of Shakespearean speech.' Carla Della Gatta, Shakespeare Bulletin

Voices and accents are increasingly perceived as central markers of identity in Shakespearean performance. This book presents a history of the reception of Shakespeare on the English stage with a focus on the vocal dimensions of theatrical performance. The chapters identify key moments when English accents have caused controversy, if not public outrage. Sonia Massai examines the cultural connotations associated with different accents and how accents have catalysed concerns about national, regional and social identities that are (re)constituted in and through Shakespearean performance. She argues that theatre makers and reformers, elocutionists and historical linguists, as well as directors, actors and producers have all had a major impact on how accents have evolved and changed on the Shakespearean stage over the last four hundred years. This fascinating book offers a rich historical survey alongside close performance analysis.

1. 'Accents yet unknown': the changing soundscape of Shakespeare in contemporary performance
2. 'Lend me your Ears': experiments with original pronunciation
3. David Garrick's 'sonic revolution': hegemony and protest, 1737–1843
4. 'Usual speech' and 'barbarous dialects' on the early modern stage.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [DSBD], Shakespeare plays [DDS], Theatre studies [AN]