Search results for ""author ben crystal""

King Lear is a towering drama of personal and national tragedy. This accessible introduction offers a springboard into the play, taking a hands-on, performance-based approach, exploring the challenges and the rewards it presents to actors, audiences and students. Springboard Shakespeare: King Lear has a three-part structure: whether you're watching or reading, Ben Crystal takes you through exactly what you need to know Before, During and After the play. He combines a genuine passion and understanding of Shakespeare with his experience as an actor, giving the reader a clear route to thinking about, understanding and enjoying King Lear.

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How did Shakespeare sound to the audiences of his day? For the first time this disc offers listeners the chance to hear England's greatest playwright performed by a company of actors using the pronunciation of his time. Under the guidance of Ben Crystal, actor, author of Shakespeare on Toast and an expert in original Shakespearian pronunciation, the company performs some of Shakespeare's best-known poems, solo speeches and scenes from the plays. Hear new meanings uncovered, new jokes revealed, poetic effects enhanced. The CD is accompanied by an introductory essay by Professor David Crystal. An essential purchase for every student and lover of Shakespeare.

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Ben Crystal is an actor, producer, and writer. He played Hamlet in the first Original Pronunciation production of the play for 400 years with the Nevada Repertory Company, and curated the British Library's CD, Shakespeare's Original Pronunciation. He co-wrote Shakespeare's Words and The Shakespeare Miscellany with his father, David Crystal, and his first solo book, Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard was shortlisted for the 2010 Educational Writer of the Year Award. His new series of introductions to the Bard's plays - Springboard Shakespeare - was published by Bloomsbury / Arden in June 2013. He and his Shakespeare ensemble perform and give Shakespeare workshops around the world.David Crystal works from his home in Holyhead, North Wales, as a writer, editor, lecturer and broadcaster. He has published extensively on the history and development of English, including The Stories of English, Evolving English and Spell It Out:

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A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies. This accessible introduction offers a springboard into the play, taking a hands-on, performance-based approach, exploring the challenges and the rewards it presents to actors, audiences and students. Springboard Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream has a three-part structure: whether you're watching or reading, Ben Crystal takes you through exactly what you need to know Before, During and After the play. He combines a genuine passion and understanding of Shakespeare with his experience as an actor, giving the reader a clear route to thinking about, understanding and enjoying A Midsummer Night's Dream.

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Actor, producer and director Ben Crystal revisits his acclaimed book on Shakespeare for the 400th anniversary of his death, updating and adding three new chapters. Shakespeare on Toast knocks the stuffing from the staid old myth of the Bard, revealing the man and his plays for what they really are: modern, thrilling, uplifting drama.The bright words and colourful characters of the greatest hack writer are brought brilliantly to life, sweeping cobwebs from the Bard - his language, his life, his world, his sounds, his craft. Crystal reveals man and work as relevant, accessible and alive - and, astonishingly, finds Shakespeare's own voice amid the poetry.Whether you're studying Shakespeare for the first time or you've never set foot near one of his plays but have always wanted to, this book smashes down the walls that have been built up around this untouchable literary figure.Told in five fascinating Acts, this is quick, easy and good for you. Just like beans on toast.

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An absolutely joyous, gasp-out-loud achievement. - Stephen FryA cathedral of consciousness - Shakespeare's uncanny insight into human nature finds us, unearthed here. - LionHeart, artist, poet, and BBC Radio London presenterShakespeare had an ear and hand that was able to capture our everyday thoughts and emotions, pin them to a page, and express them so well that still today they can make us feel stunned to be seen.'Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.''Make not your thoughts your prisons.''Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.''And I have heard it said, unbidden guests are often welcomest when they're gone.' With a quote for every day of the year, this beautiful book gathers the finest lines from the lesser-known corners of Shakespeare's plays and poems. While you may not be familiar with these 400-year-old phrases, you will be surprised by the immediate, easy resonance they have with modern day-to-day life and, hopefully, inspired to learn a few quotes, say them out loud, and drop them into conversation.Each page bears a gift of Shakespearean delight - around which lies a treasure trove of trivia, miscellaneous fact, and opportunities for reflection. The Crystals - son and father - draw attention to points of daily life, literary, linguistic, and theatrical interest through their entertaining commentary. They offer notes of context for anyone who wants to know who originally said the words, in which play, and why. And finally, the authors provide three indexes, allowing readers to help find the right quote for a task, or to follow-up on a quote's original source.Shakespeare's words are a mirror for us to peer into, to see if any part of ourselves, familiar or strange, is visible. Each day as you read his lines, you'll get glimpses of loves you've known, jealousies you've felt, relationships you've had, and situations you've encountered that bring a smile - or a wince - of familiarity.Everyday Shakespeare shares the simple lines that encapsulate the wondrous complexity of life, and the enduring appeal of the Bard.Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time. - Ben Jonson

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Winner of Best Book, Publication, or Recording prize at the Falstaff Awards 2015 Shortlisted for the 2016 SLA Information Book Award The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary is the first of its kind, a brand new illustrated alphabetical dictionary of all the words and meanings students of Shakespeare need to know. Every word has an example sentence selected from the twelve most studied plays, including Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Henry V. Usage notes and theatre notes provide additional background to Shakespearean times and the performance of his plays. Further support is provided by language panels on select topics like the humours, swearing, and stage directions, and full-colour illustrated thematic spreads on special feature topics from clothes and armour to music and recreation. The dictionary is easy to use with its clear signposting, accessible design, and expertly levelled contemporary look and feel. It is the perfect support for a full understanding of Shakespeare, created by renowned authors Professor David Crystal and actor Ben Crystal, a father and son team who combine for the first time the academic and the theatre, bringing together language, literature, and lexicography in this unique Shakespeare dictionary of global appeal.

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A vital resource for scholars, students and actors, this book contains glosses and quotes for over 14,000 words that could be misunderstood by or are unknown to a modern audience. Displayed panels look at such areas of Shakespeare's language as greetings, swear-words and terms of address. Plot summaries are included for all Shakespeare's plays and on the facing page is a unique diagramatic representation of the relationships within each play.

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Packed with facts and razor-sharp observations, Sorry, I’m British! is hilarious and informative in equal measure. From small-talk to superiority, from the famous stiff upper lip to the infamous football hooliganism, this book will take you through the sometimes sarcastic, often poetic, generally polite, never boastful, but universally proud realm of all that’s British. Discover the fate of a pitbull named ASBO, find out exactly why we get bank holidays when we do, and learn why it’s better to drive on the left with this mini encylopedia of British behaviour. Peppered with illustrations from the legendary British cartoonist Ed McLachlan (Punch, Private Eye, The Spectator), this is the perfect book for a nation that loves to laugh at itself.

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