About the author | Springboard Shakespeare Ben Crystal Ben is an actor and writer. He studied English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University before training at Drama Studio London. He has worked in TV, film and theatre, including at the reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe, London, and has narrated for RNIB Talking Books, Channel 4 and the BBC. He co-wrote Shakespeare’s Words (Penguin 2002) and The Shakespeare Miscellany (Penguin 2005) with David Crystal, and his first solo book, Shakespeare on Toast – Getting a Taste for the Bard was published in 2008 (Icon). He regularly gives workshops on performing and speaking Shakespeare via Passion in Practice.
Here’s How 600 People Around the World Say the Word ‘Potato’ You might think you don’t have an accent, but you do. And should you need help coping with this truth, you can consult a growing crowd-sourced map of people uttering one English word from all over the world: potato. Thanks to the authors of a new book on accents called You Say Potato, you can listen to Christopher from Alabaster, Ala., say “puh-tay-tuh” (and admit that he sometimes says “tater” instead). You can hear actor Stephen Fry lyrically explain from Norfolk, England how he utters “poh-TAY-toh.” Then you can amble over to India and listen to Nitin pronounce “pah-TAT-oh” from Bangalore. You can also add your own potato and location to the map, which already has spud markers from six continents. The book was written by a father-son team, linguist David Crystal and actor Ben Crystal, who is known for performing Shakespeare in the “original pronunciation.” “Our accent is the most important index of identity that we’ve got.
Ben Crystal, Author at Personal Liberty® Join the fun as Ben Crystal peers into the future to see how 2016 will shake out for some of the Great Eight’s favorite subjects. Presented in hi-def, FOR FREE! It’s The Great Eight, from the Personal Liberty Digest®! According to spokeshole John Kirby, the State Department had a terrific year, filled from Countering Violent Extremism Summits to San Bernardino, California, with “success.” In 2015, the Republicans stripped the ball from the Democrats and charged toward the wrong end zone. What do people on the naughty list want? ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and in the White House not a cretin was stirring; not even Sharpton, that louse. Who’s this Paul Ryan guy? Here at the Personal Liberty Digest®, we’re polling higher than Lindsay Graham! You had to know it was coming. The Democrats are on someone’s side; it’s just not yours. A Democratic whodunit? As I’m writing this, it’s 9:15 p.m. Giving thanks this season? Obama plays to lose. Poor little rich kid. Pining for Howard Dean.
Ben Crystal Ben Crystal (born 1977) is an English actor, author, and producer, best known for his work on performing and promoting William Shakespeare in "Original Pronunciation". Background and career[edit] The son of linguist David Crystal, Ben was born in Ascot, Berkshire, and grew up in Wokingham and Holyhead, North Wales. He studied English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University between 1995 and 1998, before training as an actor between 1998 and 1999. After leaving drama school he studied methods from the theatre companies Complicite and Frantic Assembly, particularly under Annabel Arden and Monika Pagneux. In 1999 he began to write Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion, with his father, David Crystal, and has been acting and writing for the last ten years, most notably in 2003 playing a guest lead in the BBC1 drama series Holby City, for which he became fluent in British Sign Language, and for the 2006 summer season at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Filmography[edit]
What's it like to speak Shakespeare around the globe? As we celebrate the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, UK actor, author and producer Ben Crystal relates what it's like to speak the work of a playwright who has contributed so many new words and phrases to the English language. You can also attend the English Language Council Lecture with Ben Crystal in London or watch it as a live-stream (both free registration Opens in a new tab or window.) on 12 February. The lecture is presented by the English-Speaking Union Opens in a new tab or window. and the British Council Opens in a new tab or window. in partnership. I'm a lucky man, but I can’t count the number of times I have been smiled at with toleration rather than agreement, after I’ve suggested Shakespeare's plays are manuals on how to perform, not books to be read. I experienced similar reactions in America in 2011. This was not new news to me - I've met with similar issues in Europe, and again across India, having been taken there by the British Council in 2010.
Shakespeare's Accent: How Did The Bard Really Sound? : Monkey See How were William Shakespeare's words pronounced more than 400 years ago? A new recording from the British Library aims to replicate the authentic accent of Shakespeare's day. Above, a depiction of the dramatist at work in his study, by A.H. Payne. toggle caption Edward Gooch/Getty Images How were William Shakespeare's words pronounced more than 400 years ago? Edward Gooch/Getty Images "To be or not to be" may be the question, but there's another question that's been nagging Shakespeare scholars for a long time: What did Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio, Portia or Puck really sound like when Shakespeare was first performed more than four centuries ago? The British Library has completed a new recording of 75 minutes of The Bard's most famous scenes, speeches and sonnets, all performed in the original pronunciation of Shakespeare's time. That accent sounds a little more Edinburgh — and sometimes even more Appalachia — than you might expect. Interview Highlights