In July the Graduate Acting and Undergrad Drama Departments collaborated to present As They Liked It, a selection of scenes form William Shakespeare's As You Like It in Original Pronunciation. OP is a modern reconstruction of the pronunciation of Early Modern English, the dialect spoken in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. The culmination of research by linguis David Crystal in the United Kingdom, OP is, to date, the most accurate rendering available of how Shakespeare's plays likley sounded at the time they were written and performed. Among other highlights, OP offers modern audiences opportunities to hear resurrected puns and rhymes. It presents performers with new possibliities for character interpretation.
"Hearing Shakespeare in its original pronunciation is a revelation in too many ways to enumerate," said Daniel Spector, Faculty in Tisch Drama. "The pronunciation is original, but the resonance is startlingly present. Suffice it to say, we’ll be continuing this work and look forward to sharing it with more audiences and colleagues."
Spector co-directed As They Liked It with Louis Scheeder, Associate Dean of Faculty, TSOA. Shane Ann Youts, Facutly, Graduate Acting was the Vocal Consulant, and the scenes were performed by Studio Tisch 2015, a program created by the Graduate Acting Alumni Association.
