Book Review: “Instant Shakespeare” by Louis Fantasia

For anyone interested in the art of analyzing and acting Shakespeare this is a book I highly recommend you keep in your theatre library. Louis Fantasia was the Educational Director for the Shakespeare Globe Center (USA) in 1984 and was the first director to mount a production to the New Globe Theatre in London so believe me when I say that he knows his stuff.

Fantasia’s approach to Shakespeare is marvelous because he focuses on the action of the play, not the dialogue. It’s become sacrilegious in the theatre world to say that the text isn’t the most important component of a Shakespeare play, but it’s not; the action is! Fantasia says that Shakespeare’s words without actions are like fight scenes with no danger; it’s only so much “banging at swords.” Without the action, Shakespeare’s words retain their beauty while becoming monotonous and boring.

Despite the horribly misleading title, this book is fabulously done. Fantasia is the first to admit that Shakespeare isn’t so easy as to be truly “instant.” The title refers to a series of steps that any actor can apply to break down any monologue or whole play. Fantasia has created a wonderful system for decoding the mysteries of Shakespeare. He gives questions to ask while doing analysis and even tips on performance. He presents the actor with a scientific method for breaking Shakespeare down and performing what you find inside.

I’m going to be doing a few articles in the future dealing with some of the things discussed in Instant Shakespeare, but for right now I want to leave you with something to ponder. Below is Louis Fantasia’s definition of “What is Acting?” It’s the best definition I’ve found and I suggest writing it on a note card and keeping it in your rehearsal bag.

“ACTING: is the organized and repeatable physical manifestation of an emotional state of being, the corollary to which is: Acting is the study of breath.”