Shakespeare and the Lecoq Tradition

This essay describes how an actor trained in what I call 'the Lecoq tradition' may approach Shakespearean performance. After giving a brief context for Lecoq's influence, I indicate some ways in which the actor uses his or her body in a playful and rhythmically precise manner to construct and perform meanings in the theatre. I show how a conception of theatre as 'game' can be transposed into the dramatic dimension. The primary impulse behind Lecoq-influenced work is a search for form, and I discuss how this can reveal itself through an eclectic approach to style and genre that sometimes leads to accusations of 'intercultural tourism'. Examples of Lecoq-inflected practice are drawn from Shakespearean productions by Ariane Mnouchkine (Richard II) and Complicite (The Winter's Tale, Measure for Measure) as well as my own work for the University of Central Lancashire in Preston (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth). At the close, I reflect upon some of the issues at stake in the agendas and practices of the Lecoq tradition.