KU Theatre - Performing Shakespeare in its original pronunciation

KU theatre professor Paul Meier, in collaboration with Linguist David Crystal, are staging the first-ever American rendition of a Shakespeare play in its original pronunciation.

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• William
• Bill
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[plongofono]

@samthegreencat47

Paul Meier was born and raised in England.  Furthermore, American professors are perfectly capable of researching the diction and phonetics of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

This is scholarly research: they didn't think of this yesterday. They've put a LOT of time into cross-referencing primary sources.

If you want to know the nuts and bolts of their work, ASK THEM. Email Paul Meier, contact the University of Kansas, whatever.

[redwingedsavior]

@samthegreencat47 there's such things as documents and research that allows us to know accents and dialects from older periods of time.

[matleyz]

So even then the w in sword was silent. eh?

[NakedNLouisville]

I am always amazed at people who show their ignorance and lack of scholarship on the internet for all to see. If you read David Crystal's books on Original Pronunciation (OP) you will see how he has researched from many sources the pronunciation of Elizabethan speech and how he constructed the performances in OP. There have been at least two OP production at Shakespeare's Globe in London and several others in England and the USA.

[HalfMaskedMisfit]

So boss.

[Abreodan]

I've seen it all. It now seems the English spoke Irish!

What a load of nonsense.

[iOnlySignIn]

@hoogie Just kidding. They actually came over a land bridge across the Bering Straight.

[fitzgeraldmistral]

@jemanturum The consideration given to phonetics and the linguistic subtleties that surround it are really what impressed me about this particular performance. To me, the storyline is secondary.

[fitzgeraldmistral]

You know, I never really appreciated any of the performances of Shakespearean plays that I've watched over the years, but I think that after listening to this OP performance, I am starting to have what I can foresee will be a lasting interest and appreciation for Shakespearean plays. We need more ppl like those featured in this vid. The key is the OP pronunciation and an accurate rendering of the play by very competent actors, not like those you encounter in most schools, which are too fake..

[snowman72891]

this is fascinating

[widjan]

@sleepcity not religious. youtube(slash)watch?v=h51be27d­N8c

the chant starts a bit after 1:00