Libby Walkup Reviews Shakespeare on Toast
Libby Walkup
The large second floor room was full for actor and author Ben Crystal (Shakespeare on Toast) and rightly so. His energetic talk brought life and meaning to his book, which is what he wanted to do with Shakespeare for the masses. An actor and teacher, he saw Will S’s words falling through the cracks in productions, so he brought his dad, a linguist, to decipher the Original Pronunciation or OP. This was a combination of three things, rhyme scheme, spelling and guess work. London in Elizabethan time was much more a melting pot of accents than the high brow proper English accent we see in productions of Shakespeare today. They would have also spoken much faster. A lot of the humor and feeling is lost in present day productions of Shakespeare because the pronunciation is wrong.
Ben toured us around the globe drawing pictures with his arms, his gaze and imagination. He invited two volunteers to read a scene from Macbeth. With minor instruction and an explanation of how Will’s iambic pentameter worked and its intended use, the random selection from the audience had a successful mini acting lesson, and we heard it first, Ben Crystal is opening a production company. A company that will play Shakespeare with the proper pronunciation. He’s going to practice what he preaches and do the little work that needs to be done to keep Will in our pockets. Ben: To leave away after doing a Shakespeare play indifferent. If you can walk away without being touched to your core, is sinful.
Ben’s book will be a good a read for those who want a reminder or are just starting out with the enjoyment of the greatest literary figure in British history. I know I will be revisiting the great works.
— Libby Walkup
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