Email the Author
You can use this page to email Jill K. Swanson about Crafting Shakespeare.
About the Book
Verse acting can be presented as complex and technical. Crafting Shakespeare is a succinct, basic how-to on getting started with verse acting, told in a reassuring and simple style. The actor maintains complete creative control in this easy-to-use system. Throw off your fear of "rules" and craft your own performance, from the text up!
[The PDF is in 8.5 x 11, so you can easily print it at home if you don't have an ereader!]
Crafting Shakespeare is designed for the experienced actor who is new to verse acting, so it's also a fun behind-the-scenes peek for audience members. Readers of Shakespeare will see the plays transformed from literature to living script. If you're an actor who is new to verse, you really need this book! There's really no other simple how-to on the market. As an actor and dramaturg myself, it's my life's goal to get this information out in a clear way to help all other actors learn to wield verse.
Here's what some folks are saying about Crafting Shakespeare on Facebook:
"Jill K. Swanson is an extraordinarily talented actor, with a real knack for understanding and explaining verse handling in Shakepseare. If you're looking for some guidance or a new approach to your language work, she's a great go-to. I'm so excited that this is available. " -- Beth Burns, Artistic Director and Matriarch of The Hidden Room Theatre
"[Jill is] one of the brightest, Bardiest people I know, and she really knows her stuff when it comes to pulling apart Shakespeare's verse and turning it into performance. I've had the pleasure of acting alongside her, and being directed by her, and I'd do both again in a heartbeat. The book is currently a work in progress, but you get to read it as it comes out, and it's well worth the $10." -- Robert Stevens, actor
About the Author
Ms. Swanson has performed Shakespeare for 24 years. Trained at Florida State University, she moved to Austin in 1995 and has worked with Austin Shakespeare and other local companies as an actor, dramaturg, coach and director ever since.