Throughout the week of Shakespeare Camp, we always begin rehearsing by warming up both our voices and our bodies for the stage. This involves everything from dancing around to reciting tongue twisters. We wrote up two articles last year concerning some of the different exercises we work through, but I want to take a moment with this post to detail a couple of activities you can do while you are preparing and memorizing your playscript.
The face is easily one of the most expressive areas of a person, so be sure to stretch it out before you go about twisting and spinning your face into different expressions. Open your eyes and mouth as widely as you can before scrunching up your face. Try yaaawning really broadly, moving your mouth between tall shapes and wide shapes. Pivot your nose around, left and right and left and right. If you can, finish off by alternately raising and lowering your eyebrows.
When you are reciting your lines, be sure to shake up the pitch and tone of your voice. To try and expand your ranges, hum a bit before you recite. The buzz in the back of your mouth will soften your throat. Raise and lower the pitch of the hum. And as silly as it may sound, you can also try buzzing a bit.
And although not all the parts in the play are as athletic as some others, it is still suggested to thoroughly stretch your body. Shake through each of your limbs, from shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and ankles. Twist your body around in small circles, slowly making the rotation larger and larger with each iteration.
I hope you all stay exercised and prepared for Shakespeare Camp! See you all then!
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