Breaking Down the Bard - Soft

Romeo

He jests at scars that never felt a wound.

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Olivia

Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit

Do give thee fivefold blazon. Not too fast! Soft, soft!

Unless the master were the man. How now?

Even so quickly may one catch the plague?

Gloucester

And thus I clothe my naked villainy,

With odd old ends stol'n forth of holy writ,

And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

But soft, here come my executioners.

How now, my hardy, stout, resolved mates,

Are you now going to dispatch this thing?

The word "soft" is already in your vocabulary as the antonym of "hard", and the opposite of "loud". But when you run across this word in Shakespeare's text used as you see in the examples above, it doesn't really seem to mean "cushy" or "quiet". Sometimes, words that used to have several definitions have only maintained a few of them as time passed and language has evolved, so we need to dig a little deeper to understand the true meaning of a seemingly familiar word in its 400-year-old context.

This is an instance where Alexander Schmidt's Lexicon doesn't offer a lot of help:

However, a father and son pair of Shakespeare scholars, David Crystal and Ben Crystal, explore the possible meanings a bit further in their glossary, Shakespeare's Words. (Their website is a phenomenal resource, and can be found here.) Check out the fourth "soft" down:

In the above instances (and many more), the word "soft" is spoken as a sort of interjection. It interrupts the action, and shows a shift in the direction that the scene is about to go. 

In Act II, Scene 2 of Romeo & Juliet, Romeo is hiding from his friends, Benvolio and Mercutio, who were loudly searching for him and mocking him. The appearance of Juliet surprises him. Whether he anticipated her arrival or he just lucked out, this is an exciting change of events, so Romeo's "But soft" is basically another way to say "hold up", or "hang on"!

Olivia is having an exciting moment for her "Soft, soft!" in Twelfth Night's Act I, Scene 5. Although she has sworn off courtship to mourn her father and brother, when she meets the Viola (in disguise as "Cesario"), she is smitten. Alone onstage, she recalls portions of their previous conversation and then lists several of Cesario's best attributes before saying "Not too fast! Soft, soft!" She may be sprung, but she's practically saying "slow your roll!" She hardly knows the guy, but she can't deny her feelings, which propels a lot of action in this play .

Finally, in Richard III, Act I, Scene 3, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is bragging about how well he is fooling everyone into thinking that he's a good guy in one of his several soliloquies. Then, the two murderers he has hired to kill his brother arrive, and he shifts back into the scene with "But soft, here come my executioners." He might as well say, "wait a moment" as he turns the focus to these new characters.

When you see "soft" used in this way, especially in a soliloquy or aside, be on the lookout for a change in the energy and direction of the scene. Think of it as "hold up", "wait", "just a sec", or even "slow your roll, girlfriend", and you'll help the audience follow your character's journey!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Fair

Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream)

How happy some o'er othersome can be!

Through Athens, I am thought as fair as she.

But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so...

Audrey (As You Like It)

Well, I am not fair, and therefore I pray the gods make me honest.

Chorus (Romeo & Juliet)

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene...

You may have guessed that the word "fair" is ALL OVER THE PLACE in Shakespeare's plays. It's a word that we, in the 21st century, primarily use to mean "just, in accordance with the rules or standards; legitimate." And sure, it often means that in Shakespeare's text, too, but it also has a few other definitions, most notably "beautiful", "of a white complexion", and "clear, unspotted, pure." Sometimes, it even means "kind", "good", or even "honorable." 

(Side note: Alexander Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary is a great resource - and here's how to use it.)

One thing that we have to be aware of when we approach Shakespeare's plays 400+ years after they were written is the ideals of the people presenting the plays and the intended audience. Shakespeare's audience seemed to enjoy, appreciate, and idealize their definition of beauty. This type of "fair" includes people of a pale complexion (particularly ladies), and people with blonde hair.

This is especially apparent in a play like A Midsummer Night's Dream, where the two young ladies, Hermia and Helena, are rivals. Helena mentions in her soliloquy at the beginning of the play that "through Athens, I am thought as fair as she". As the play progresses, we see numerous references to Hermia being darker in color (in hair or skin, it isn't specified): "Not Hermia, but Helena I love./ Who will not change a raven for a dove?" is Lysander's love declaration to Helena. As the "dove" in this metaphor, she would be more "fair" (light in color) than a "raven", and therefore more beautiful to Elizabethans than the darker Hermia.

In As You Like It, Audrey says that she is "not fair", which probably means "not beautiful", but also likely means "not pale." Many characters we meet in the Forest of Arden are shepherds and goatherds, and they would spend a great deal of time in the sun. To many Elizabethans, being pale was part of being ideally beautiful, so the idea of Audrey using "fair" in the "pale/beautiful" context holds up. In the same play, Phebe is insulted when her features are described as dark: "He said mine eyes were black and my hair black..." The amazing thing about Shakespeare's writing is that even though his characters' ideals of beauty may be different from what ours currently are, he makes it abundantly clear that this is what matters in this particular society of the play!

In these instances and many others, "fair" is a synonym for "beautiful." This can apply to objects as well as people:

Proteus (The Two Gentlemen of Verona)

But pearls are fair...

Sometimes, "fair" means "good":

Olivia (Twelfth Night)

Let thy fair wisdom, not thy passion, sway

In this uncivil and unjust extent

Against our peace.

Finally, let's look at the opening lines from Romeo & Juliet. "Fair Verona" could mean a great many things: a beautiful city, a just and lawful place, a place without blemish (i.e. nothing bad happens here), it's elegant, and even fortunate. Any and all of these choices are accurate descriptions of the Verona we see in the text - until things go horribly wrong! 

"Fair" is a very common word in Shakespeare's plays, and now you'll have a jumping off point for what it means in different contexts!

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My Not-So-Guilty Pleasure

I am a sap for all things motivational and inspirational. The Olympics. Hallmark commercials. Quote images on Instagram. These are things that make me feel all the feels, and I am not too ashamed to admit it. The worst offender at the moment is the quote images on Instagram. I love love LOVE quote images. I don't even care if it's a famous person's quote or not; if the pic is pretty and there are words, there's a 90% guarantee I'll double-tap that.

Side note: I hate when quotes are attributed to someone who never said them, but that's another post.

I am fully aware that most of these are cliches, and not particularly well thought out. I don't care. It's my not-so-guilty pleasure, just like yours might be watching Empire or singing along to the Spice Girls' first album in your car. Here's what goes through my head:

This one. YES! Life is hard but DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP! Also, pretty blue sky and lake and is that a sailboat? Where is that? I want to go to there!

This is SO TRUE! Also, I want to go hiking so bad! When will winter be over?! Oops, I guess that was kind of like "counting the days", wasn't it? Look how green and lush it is!

A SUNSET! I love sunsets! I want to be an adventurer, with someone who calls me "darling", like we're in a movie in the 1940's with those adorable Mid-Atlantic accents!

I like what I do! That's why I'm so happy!!! This quote GETS ME. Also, mountains. *sigh*

OMG a DEER! And it's in the forest and it's magical! I want to do all the things that are good for my soul - like finding that deer in that forest and hugging it.

... It pretty much goes on like that until my boyfriend gives me a look that means "get off your phone and have a human conversation, please." I know that some of them are absolutely lame, but I still like them!

What are YOUR guilty pleasures? Are you as obsessed with motivational quote images as I am?

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Breaking Down the Bard - Doubt

I'm sure you're aware that Shakespeare's English and our modern English have a lot of differences; "thee", "thou", "wherefore", etc. There are plenty of words that Shakespeare used that we don't use anymore, but there are others that have lasted 400 years, and have evolved over that time... kind of like how "literally" can also now mean "figuratively". No matter how you feel about it, languages change and evolve over time.

Today, we're going to look at one such word: doubt. To us, this word commonly means "to hesitate to believe". Back in Shakespeare's day, doubt had another meaning: "to fear, or be apprehensive about, suspect", as well as the meaning that has endured to modern day.

Take this line from Hamlet, Act I, Scene 2:

My father's spirit - in arms! All is not well,

I doubt some foul play. Would the night were come!

Till then, sit still my soul. Foul deeds will rise,

Though all the earth o'erwhelm them to men's eyes.

When Hamlet says "I doubt some foul play", we need to think critically about which definition of doubt he means. I think an easy way to do this is to replace the word "doubt" with the word "fear", and see if it makes sense:

My father's spirit - in arms! All is not well,

I fear some foul play. Would the night were come!

Then try the same line with "don't believe" in place of "doubt":

My father's spirit - in arms! All is not well,

I don't believe some foul play. Would the night were come!

The "fear" version makes sense, where as "don't believe" doesn't, so now we know that Hamlet is worried that something bad is going on, and can't wait to see for himself what's going on and if the ghost will come back tonight.

Next time you see "doubt" in your lines, you can quickly determine which definition is intended, and you'll be sure to impress!

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The Top 5 Mistakes Actors Make in Shakespeare Auditions

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Breaking Down the Bard - Asides

A couple of weeks ago, we covered the soliloquy, and what makes it different from a monologue (feel free to catch up here if you missed that post). Today, we're going to talk about another device that Shakespeare uses, the aside.

An aside is when a character onstage speaks to the audience or to one or more characters in the scene and is not heard by one or more other characters onstage. Anyone onstage who's not supposed to hear what's being said miraculously doesn't hear it! Shakespeare employs this device as a way for a character to comment on the action onstage, often with mockery or sarcasm. Like a soliloquy (which is basically a long aside), a character using an aside to break the fourth wall gets the opportunity to share more of themselves than the audience would otherwise see.

As we go through some examples, I want you to realize that Shakespeare doesn't write any stage direction indicating that this is an aside. Some modern editors will identify asides in printed editions, but this is often inconsistent, so it's a good idea to know how to find these (and play with them) on your own.

Here's a mocking aside, from Puck in Act III, Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night's Dream:

Bottom:

"Thisbe, the flowers of odious savors sweet" --

Quince:

Odorous, odorous.

Bottom:

-- "Odors savors sweet;

So hath thy breath, my dearest Thisbe dear.

But hark; a voice! Stay you but here a while,

And by and by I will to thee appear."

Exits 

Puck:

A stranger Pyramus than e'er played here.

Exits

Flute:

Must I speak now?

Puck totally disses Bottom's acting to the audience (who can see and hear him), but none of the other characters onstage react, and just carry on with their rehearsal. In Midsummer, none of the human characters see or knowingly interact with Puck, so he maintains his otherworldliness as a powerful spirit.

Asides are at the heart of this hilarious scene from Twelfth Night (Act  II, Scene 5), where Malvolio fantasizes about his boss' affections, not realizing he has an audience of his enemies eavesdropping:

Malvolio:

Tis but fortune, all is fortune. Maria once told me she did affect me, and I have heard herself come thus near, that should she fancy, it should be one of my complexion. Besides, she uses me with a more exalted respect than anyone else that follows her. What should I think on't?

Sir Toby:

Here's to an overweening rogue!

Fabian:

O, peace! Contemplation makes a rare turkey-cock of him. How he jets under his advanc'd plumes!

Sir Andrew:

'Slight, I could so beat the rogue!

Sir Toby:

Peace, I say!

Malvolio:

To be Count Malvolio!

From Malvolio's perspective, he is alone in the garden, so I think of his lines as a soliloquy with impeccably-timed pauses, where the other characters make their reactions. Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Fabian (and perhaps Maria, depending on the production), hide and take turns reacting to Malvolio's antics and shushing each other.

At the beginning of Romeo & Juliet, the Capulets (Gregory and Samson) and Montagues (Abraham and Balthazar) are having a confrontation and consulting their kinsmen as they go:

Abraham:
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

Samson:
I do bite my thumb, sir.

Abraham:
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

Samson:
Is the law on our side if I say "ay?"

Gregory:
No.

Samson:

No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir,

but I bite my thumb, sir.

Samson and Gregory need a second to discuss things privately before continuing to push the Montagues' buttons, so they take it. It also shows the audience that there are rules in this society that can and cannot be broken, and that some people, aka Samson, are afraid of the consequences.

This scene from Measure for Measure is FULL of asides: Lucio joins Isabella for moral support (and a little bit of coaching) as she pleads to Angelo to spare her condemned brother's life. 

Isabella:

We cannot weigh our brother with ourself.

Great men may jest with saints; 'tis wit in them,

But in the less foul profanation.

Lucio:

Thou'rt i' th' right, girl, more o' that.

Isabella:

That in the captain's but a choleric word,

Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy.

Lucio:

Art avis'd o' that? More on't.

Angelo:

Why do you put these sayings upon me?

Isabella:

Because authority, though it err like others,

Hath yet a kind of medicine in itself,

That skins the vice o' th' top. Go to your bosom,

Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know

That's like my brother's fault. If it confess

A natural guiltiness such as is his,

Let it not sound a thought upon your tongue

Against my brother's life.

Angelo:

                  She speaks, and 'tis

Such sense that my sense breeds with it. --

Fare you well. 

In this short piece of Act II, Scene 2, we have Lucio cheering on Isabella (probably without Angelo hearing, because Angelo doesn't address Lucio or tell him to shut up), and Angelo taking a quick time out to let us know that Isabella might be persuading him.

Asides in Shakespeare are hidden gems for you to discover, and they give you opportunities for comedy or to create a relationship with the audience, so make sure you give them their due!

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How to Survive Audition Season (and Keep Your Sanity)

Audition Season. You're sitting for HOURS on the holding room floor, while girls around you gossip loudly while curling their hair, and you're probably on 4 hours of sleep because you had to close at your restaurant job last night. Let me give you some tips that I use to keep my focus and my sanity and have a great audition season!

1. Arrive Early to Open Calls

I know, it's absolutely bonkers that every year we have to get up earlier than the year before just so that we can be seen at an EPA. I used to refuse to show up for a call before 8 AM, because I really do think it's out of control. Guess what? It sucks, but that is just how it works, and if you sleep in, you are way less likely to be seen. 

2. Only Audition for Things You Want and are Right For

This amounts largely to doing your research. If a theatre is doing an all-male production of The Taming of the Shrew, I'm not going to the audition. It's a waste of my time and theirs. If the dates don't work for me, or the pay is too low, or there's a plan for the production that I don't morally agree with, I won't go. This frees up my time to go to an audition I'm excited about, or work on something else, or sleep in, etc.

3. Be Prepared

Of course, this means having your monologues or sides ready to rock the day of your audition (and if you need some help with that, hit me up), but you'd be amazed how many people show up to an audition without their headshot and resume stapled together, or ladies without their hair and makeup done how they would like. They get frazzled, and that energy follows them into the room. Why would you do that to yourself?! Get it all done in advance. I prep my headshots on Sunday; I always keep at least 5 ready to go, and 10 on a week I know will be busy. They go in a dedicated folder that goes in my audition bag. I also keep a pen, a highlighter, my notebook, my phone charger, any spare clothes I would need, and anything else that would make my life easier IN THE BAG. I know it's there and I don't have to worry!

4. Invest in a Pair of Headphones

Those gossipy girls, the crazy dude who wants to chat, and the nervous, unprepared person who wants your opinion on which monologue they should do will be at the audition. Put on your headphones and tune them out! Listen to music, or a podcast, or your lines that you've recorded for rehearsal, but ignore all those people and get centered. You're not a jerk; you're there to work. Don't get distracted from your purpose (but make sure you're listening for instructions from the monitor).

5. It's NOT "Rejection"

If the casting director picked someone else for the job, DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY. Hundreds of people auditioned for a handful of roles. Just because someone else got the job doesn't mean you suck. You weren't the right person this time. Recognizing that there are more factors at work than just your talent will keep you from getting burned out, and help you last longer in this industry.

6. Take Care of Yourself

Drink more water. Get enough sleep. Listen to your body. Getting sick isn't going to help you book jobs. Make your health a priority!

7. Have a Life Outside of the Biz

Keep some balance in your life by spending time on things you love that aren't acting. I love to go hiking, and I make sure that every week I see a friend in person. An added bonus is that it gives you something interesting to talk about! One CD remembers me because when she asked me what I had been up to since she had seen me last, I told her that I had climbed three mountains in the last month. Be a real human that just happens to be a great actor, and you'll be much more memorable.

With these tips and your talent and hard work, you're all set to have a great audition season! Go forth, and kick ass!

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