2: Video excerpt, Sir Patrick Stewart in "Playing Shakespeare," 1982.

2: Video excerpt, Sir Patrick Stewart in "Playing Shakespeare," 1982.

In this excerpt, the actor Sir Patrick Stewart (who may be recognizable to students for his roles on Star Trek: The Next Generation or in X-Men films) performs one of Shylock’s speeches in three ways, to exhibit the interpretive choices an actor has in playing the character. 

Suggested Activity: First, ask students to read the speech that Stewart performs, from Act 1, Scene 3, of the play (beginning, “Signior Antonio, many a time and oft”). Ask them to think about the different possible emotions and personalities that could be conveyed by that speech. If possible, have a few students present different interpretations of a section of the speech to their classmates. Then, show Stewart’s three performances, asking students to pay close attention to how Stewart changes the meaning of the speech.  

Source: Shakespeare Teaching Videos, “Patrick Stewart on Shylock,” Mar. 4 2014, video, 8:48, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UOdMHW7J2Q.