CRACKING SHAKESPEARE Author Kelly Hunter Set for Signing, Discussion at Drama Book Shop

The Drama Book Shop welcomes back author, coach, director and actress Kelly Hunter for an encore discussion and signing of her acclaimed book, Cracking Shakespeare. Ms. Hunter signed copies of the technique book in November of 2015, and returns again to popular demand. Ms. Hunter will discuss and sign the book on Thursday, May 19th at 6:00pm.

CRACKING SHAKESPEARE serves to demystify the process of speaking Shakespeare's language, offering hands-on techniques for drama students, young actors and directors who are intimidated by rehearsing, performing and directing Shakespeare's plays. For some artists approaching Shakespeare, the ability to capture the dynamic movement of thought from mind to mouth, and the paradox of using the formality of verse to express a realistic form of speech, can seem daunting. CRACKING SHAKESPEARE includes practical techniques and exercises to solve this dilemma - including supporting online video which demonstrate how to embody Shakespeare's characters in rehearsal and performance - offering a toolkit that will free actors and directors from their fear of Shakespeare.

Kelly Hunter is an award winning actor, director and teacher. Over the last thirty years she has performed major roles at the RSC, National Theatre, English Touring Theatre and the Icelandic company Vesturport, working with Sir Peter Hall, Trevor Nunn, Hal Prince and Jerome Savary.

For the RSC she has played Lola in the Blue Angel, Constance in King John, Hermione in The Winters Tale and Goneril in King Lear. She has worked extensively in film, TV and radio.

Kelly is the Artistic Director of Flute Theatre, for whom her most recent production of Hamlet, Who's There? performed at the Gdansk Shakespeare Festival in August 2015 and will be performing in the UK and Europe next year. In 2014 she created a production of The Tempest for the RSC which she adapted for children with autism and will be performing worldwide in 2016. Kelly is the author of two books, Shakespeare's Heartbeat, drama games for children with autism published by Routledge and Cracking Shakespeare; A hands-on guide for actors and directors published by Methuen in December 2015. She has directed numerous production of Shakespere for UK and US students including The Tempest, King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cymbeline and Macbeth, Twelfth NIght, Macbeth and two productions of Hamlet including an all female prdouction at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. From 2002-2006 she was the artistic director of Touchstone Shakespeare Theatre, which she created to offer Shakespeare to children with no access to the arts. Kelly has created a series of sensory drama games named The Hunter Heartbeat Method, which form her work with children with autism. This methodology has forms the basis of a longitudinal study at Ohio State University.

The Tony Award-winning Drama Book Shop is located at 250 West 40th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. The discussion is free to the public, and copies of the book will be on sale.