Laurie Swigart’s heart goes out to American middle/high school teachers and directors faced with the daunting prospect of teaching or directing a Shakespeare play. In her extensive study of Shakespeare’s theatre practice, Swigart demonstrates a more authentic method of teaching or directing Shakespeare that is closer to original practice than the simple literary style of teaching found in most American curriculums. Swigart’s step-by-step presentation reveals that Shakespeare’s use of language is his way of telling his actors how to perform what he wrote. Her explanations and extensive exercises in each chapter make things not only clear but fun. Students will learn how plays were presented in Shakespeare’s time and how they can have that experience today. Performance Approaches to Shakespeare is a study of how to analyze Shakespeare’s text and apply those principles in your own classroom or rehearsal space. Helpful tools include: - A chapter by chapter process beginning with the brief study of Shakespeare’s theatre, going through the language tools he used to communicate performance cues to his actors, and ending with a comprehensive opportunity for teachers and directors to practice these methods for themselves. - Let’s Play! – exercises and activities for use in the classroom or rehearsal space coinciding with the topics covered in each chapter - Examples from the Text – tables of textual references for use with any of the items in the “Let’s Play” sections - And much, much MORE!