Performing Gender in Shakespeare: Extension Activity

After completing activity: Performing Gender in Shakespeare, explore the following acting exercise.

Choose one of the character’s speeches. Go through the text and make sense of the emotional journey, the experiences the character is going through, etc. Is there anything about their journey that you can’t relate to? Use your imagination to transport yourself into the role and its given circumstances.

• First, play the speech as yourself, in your own gender.

• Now use your technical theatrical skills to attempt the role in its original form. Try not to offer an exaggerated stereotype of the gender: stay true to the role. What changes did you make to your performance to achieve this?