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Unrehearsed Shakespeare is a performance technique that replicates the conditions under which Shakespeare's company worked. An Elizabethan acting company would present an average of ten different plays every two weeks at a public playhouse, in addition to giving private performances before the court. This left no time for rehearsals in the sense that we know today. As there were neither copyright laws nor copy machines in Elizabethan England, the actors were not given the entire script but worked from "cue-scripts" that contained only their own lines and their cues.
The company performed a different play every day, went long intervals before repeating a play, and introduced new plays to the repertory frequently. Without the benefit of a rehearsal period and a complete script, the actors needed all the information about characterization, blocking, props, etc. in their own lines. Therefore, Shakespeare developed a code, consisting of the seemingly "archaic" spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and lineation preserved in the First Folio of 1623, a text compiled by two shareholding members of Shakespeare's company, John Hemminge and Henry Condell.
All WildBard productions are unrehearsed productions. Most roles will be double or even triple cast to ensure the authenticity of the technique. Before performance, actors cast in unrehearsed productions participate in a training workshop that focuses on instantly theatricalizing the acting clues in Shakespeare's text and prepares the actor for performing Shakespeare without rehearsals.
Actors will receive their cue-scripts in advance and have ample time to prepare - remember, "unrehearsed" is not "unprepared". WildBard productions are technically "readings" because actors perform script-in-hand, but they are nevertheless fully ACTED performances.
Using this technique, actors are empowered to make BOLD, textually justified acting choices. The results are often startling, revelatory, and inspiring.
Anthing can happen... and usually does!
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