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大家好！在我今天开始演讲之前，我想先向你们道个歉，过去的16年我一直在中国工作生活，但是太遗憾了，我年纪大了反应也慢，没有能学会你们美丽的语言。请原谅我，不是我认为它不美丽，我只是不会正确地说，我认识很多汉字，但我说的中文你们是听不懂的。
非常荣幸能够和其他有创造力的女士先生们相聚在此，他们都正在发明各种各样新的、令人激动的并且重要的技术。今天我要和大家谈论的虽然是500年前创作的作品，但直到今天我们才真正理解它全部的意涵。这个伟大的创造者是威廉 莎士比亚。他的作品不只是英文的诗歌戏剧，更是风靡世界的作品。
我一生致力于在世界各国表演、执导莎士比亚戏剧，教授学生以及专业人士生产制作，其中许多是在中国，许多会用中文，包括英文、阿拉伯文以及其他不同的语言进行。我也执导了一些中国的戏剧，用中国戏剧的方式演绎与莎士比亚相关的作品，你们能够想象的所有和莎士比亚戏剧相关的工作我都参与过。今天我希望能帮助你们理解至今影响我生活的莎士比亚。
这是我将在西安再次演出的作品，你们可以看到照片上那个长发的我。我6岁的时候就开始表演莎士比亚，莎士比亚是我生活中意义深远的一部分，并将贯穿我的一生。
今天，我想帮助你们理解的一个方面是，为什么莎士比亚500年前的作品依然与我们相关，对我们如此重要？即使他是创作在完全不同的文化背景和时代背景下。为何他的这项创新工作，在今天仍然和500年前他开始这项工作时一样的具有创新性？
首先我们要谈论的是莎士比亚对英语的影响。我将在这里展示给大家，你们可以读出这些单词吗？这些是我们常用的英文单词：assassination（暗杀），film（电影），champion（冠军），birthplace（出生地），employer（雇主），advertising（广告），investment（投资），designs（设计），engagement（约会），retirement（退休），exposure（曝光），eventful（多事的），coldblooded（冷血），watch dog（看门狗），puppy dog（小狗），traditional（传统）等等。
莎士比亚创造了这些单词，而且这只是一小部分，他大约创造了五千到一万个单词，在他使用之前并没有出现过。
实际上，今天，如果你讲英文，如果你讲不止一句话，你不可能讲出一句没有包含莎士比亚创造的单词的句子。他对我们今天的英文语言仍有很强的影响。我们通常以为他的“伊丽莎白时代的英语”，是运用很多生涩难懂的单词的古老语言，但其实我们现今使用的很多英文单词都是由他发明的，之前并不存在。
莎士比亚确实是创造的天才，但这并不是我们今天真正要讲的。莎士比亚所做的戏剧创作，与任何他之前的、同时代的人所做的都完全不同，包括与从那以后的人在戏剧甚至电影方面所做的事情相比，都是完全不同的，这是莎士比亚戏剧的特点。他创造的角色是如此的真实，他们说着家乡口音，有各自的性格特点甚至是文化特征，无比真实。
他也做了你我现在正在做的事。比如我此刻谈论着莎士比亚和我的生活，同时我也在想着其他事情，当你们在听我讲的时候，你们也在想着其他事情，这就是我们人类的思维模式。我们把注意力集中在一件主要的事情上，但是脑子里还会想一些别的事情，比如我过一会儿要干什么、去见谁，我们总是同时思考着好几件事。
这也是莎士比亚创作的特点。你能通过舞台上演员的演绎，去发现人物内心的活动。因此在欣赏莎士比亚戏剧的时候，你不仅仅是在看这个故事，你还能发现人物内心的想法，以及他们的思考过程。这也就是人类大脑工作的方式。
关于莎士比亚戏剧，人们很少讨论但却非常重要的一点是，莎士比亚对英语的独特运用在更深的层次触动了我们，甚至直抵灵魂。我们开始感受事物，即使你不懂英语，当你欣赏莎士比亚戏剧的时候，你仍然会被他的作品感动到流泪，感动到大笑，甚至都不知道发生了什么。这是因为莎士比亚对语言天才般的运用，特别是他对英语语音的运用。
今天我希望大家和我一起做个实验。在演讲刚开始时，我介绍到自己是一个演员，我在语言上下了很多功夫，并且我也排演过莎士比亚所有的戏剧，饰演过所有莎剧中的重要角色。今天我想邀请大家和我一起，体验每次我扮演莎剧角色时的感受。
在开始之前，我先简单介绍一下英语这门语言。我会问大家一些问题，请大家凭直觉回答。我是一个简单的人，我将告诉你们的是真实的但却非常简单。英文仅仅由两种元素构成，仅仅两种，如果你学过英语的话应该知道，想想是什么——元音和辅音。不管你是说英语还是写英语，其实就只有元音和辅音这两样。
这里有5个主要的元音：A，E，I，O，U。我希望所有的观众可以和我一起读，A，A，A，E，I，O，U。让我们一起读，A，E，I，O，U。再来一次，它们太美了，A，E，I，O，U。如果你们看着我，会发现我在读这些音的时候闭上了眼睛，我希望你们也闭上眼睛，尽可能大声地再读一遍，A，E，I，O，U。
5个主要的元音，还有其他8个元音是这些元音的复合元音，因此英文中总共有13个元音。想一想，元音是什么？历史学家告诉我们，曾经有很长一段时间，人类并不相互对话，任何语言都没有。后来经过一段时间逐渐形成了语言，人们开始交流。
语言最初是用来交流情感的。我爱你，我恨你，我害怕，这是我们最熟悉的了。它不受语言和文化的限制，因为我们都是人类。语言学家告诉我们，元音的出现是人类为了表达情感。A，E，I，O，U，以及其他8个元音，它们都传达着感受。
如果你不信，想想这个，在北京、上海、非洲、美国、英国、巴西、西班牙、希腊……有这样一群人，他们只会发出元音的声音，你知道他们是谁——婴儿。
全世界的婴儿，在他们学会各自的语言之前，当他们在婴儿床里试图和你交流的时候，他们会发出这样的声音来表达自己，A，E，I，O，U。当婴儿饿了或者尿裤子了，他们就会又喊又叫，他们试图告诉你他们的感受，他们发出的声音就是英文的元音。我知道这些是因为我观察我的女儿直到她学会说话。
再思考一下，元音的作用是表达情感，除了元音还有辅音，你知道辅音是什么，T，B，Z，V，F等等。如果你会讲英语你就知道这些。辅音主要有24个，它们的出现是为了让人类更清晰地表达情感。在辅音出现之前，所有的声音都只是噪音，没办法将感情表达清楚。
英语遵循这项基本原则：元音表达情感，辅音让这些情感变得清晰。下面举一些例子，看这个单词，Wow（哇），大声跟我读，Wow（哇），再来一次，Wow（哇）。我们来看看这个单词是怎么构成的，元音O在中间，两个辅音W在两边，这样组成了一个词。所以有一个情感表达在中间，两个辅音把它框起来让情感变得清晰——Wow（哇）。
再看这个单词，War（战争），War（战争），War（战争）。同出一辙，元音位于单词中间以表达情感，两个辅音W和R位于两边让情感变得清晰。大声跟我读，War（战争）。
现在，这两个单词一起读，Wow（哇），War（战争）。闭上眼睛再来一次，Wow（哇），War（战争）。再来一次，Wow（哇），War（战争）。你感受到了吗？读这两个单词时你的感情发生了微妙的变化。Wow（哇）这个单词让人兴奋，单词本身也充满活力，War（战争）要黑暗一些，它是一个悲伤的词。
让我们再看一个单词体会一下，这个单词发音为Woe（悲痛）。这是一个真实存在的单词，在现代英语中已经很少使用，但是在莎士比亚时代经常用到。80年前我们开始用另一个词代替，那就是Sadness（悲伤），这就是Woe（悲痛）的意思。看一下Woe（悲痛）的构成，以辅音W开头，元音O和E发一个音，仿佛这个单词没有止境。
思考一下，当你经历悲伤，我不是指只是让你们不舒服的事情。当你深爱的某个人去世时，当你失去了一样特别重要的东西时，你会悲伤。这种感觉像永远永远都不会结束，而你的理智告诉你它是会结束的，其他人有相同的悲伤经历，但他们仍能继续生活。但这种情绪就像永远不会结束一样。看这个单词的构成，它没有结尾，Woe......永恒的悲伤。
英语中的所有单词，或多或少都遵循着这个原则，使用元音来表达感情，而辅音让这种感情变得清晰。英文戏剧写作都使用这个原则，或是无意或是刻意。在莎士比亚之前、之后以及同时代的人，没有人像莎士比亚一样使用这个原则。
莎士比亚创造了声音，不只是单词的表面意思，不只是理念、哲学、思想，这些都蕴含在他的戏剧里。声音，这是他的创新，最重要的创新。如果你去听他的戏剧，你会被他创作的声音感动。舞台上你看到的、听到的，还有那些角色会让你产生某些情感，故事的情景会让你产生某些情感，但这些声音才是真正触动灵魂的东西。这就是莎士比亚的创新之处。
莎士比亚有这样一种神奇的方式，我敢说至今没有像他一样的人出现。我们这些演员、导演、戏剧艺术家，也是直到近些年才开始理解这些深层次的意涵，他如同魔术师一样运用着语言。
你还需要知道一件事，莎士比亚时代的剧院和现在的剧院非常不一样。像我们今天演讲的剧场，舞台上有灯光，观众坐在台下，非常安静，然后你上场了。莎士比亚时代的舞台不是这样。它在室外，没有灯光，观众站在舞台旁边，聊天、喝酒、吃花生。
伦敦的街道非常嘈杂，马车川流不息，市场讨价还价，人声鼎沸。莎士比亚在一家剧院表演的时候，在剧院的一边是一家妓院，各种嘈杂可想而知。另一边是驯化熊的表演，人们用木棍扎熊，让熊惨叫、追逐，人们在旁边看热闹。
那时候舞台上没有灯光，没有布景，没有好看的戏服，只有语言让观众了解演员在台子上干什么。因此他必须想办法吸引你们的注意力，让你倾听。仅仅通过对语言的运用他做到了一点。
让我们一起感受一下语言的魅力，我们接下来要看的来自莎士比亚最著名的戏剧之一——《李尔王》。大家将和我一起表演，我们迅速地排练一下然后你们将要表演。在这个片段里李尔王是国王，他即将退位并把王国交给他的三个女儿，其中两个女儿很坏，她们逼疯了李尔王，以此获得王国的掌控权。
这是《李尔王》非常著名的一个场景，李尔王走在暴风雨中。在莎士比亚那个时代，是没有特效去创造暴风雨场景的，因此要通过语言来实现。同时，李尔王此刻的内心也在经历着一场暴风雨，因此这一幕是内心和外界同时发生的暴风雨，莎士比亚通过语言创造了。你们能听到的想象到的，舞台上的暴风雨以及李尔王心里的暴风雨，莎士比亚通过对元音和辅音的运用做到了这一点。
我们来一起感受，和我一起说第一个单词，Blow(吹)，表示风在吹。你们需要感受元音，使它听起来像这样，Blow（吹）。愿意和我一起尝试吗？Blow（吹）。让自己尽情去感受，尝试这种奇妙的经历，不要害怕，不要觉得尴尬，就是尝试和我一起说这个词。Blow（吹），Winds（风），ds。这个词结尾的“ds”是模拟风暴的声音，ds，Winds（风），And（以及），Crack（吹裂），Crack（吹裂），Crack（吹裂），Your cheeks（你的脸颊）。最后两个单词，出色地演绎了这场暴风雨，Rage（愤怒），试一下，Rage（愤怒），Blow（吹）。
所有人请起立，一起来。你们今天来这里的时候很可能没有意识到会表演《李尔王》，你们今天都是李尔王。所以，去感受世界上最伟大的英语作家创造的奇迹吧！一起来，我先做个示范，我先说一遍然后你们跟着我一起说。
我们先从第一个单词开始。我们先创造一场暴风雨，一场观众可以在脑海中想象出的暴风雨，同时也代表了李尔王内心的暴风雨。第一个单词，Blow（吹），再来一次，Blow（吹），Winds（风），And（以及），Crack（吹裂），Your（你的），Cheeks（脸颊），Rage（愤怒），这个词再来一次，我喜欢这个词，Rage（愤怒），Blow（吹）。你们太棒了！谢谢你们，请坐。
我希望你们开始理解并相信，莎士比亚对元音和辅音的运用，是如此独特，如此强大，直到现在我们才开始理解其全部含义。
最后，我想分享一段我最喜欢的莎士比亚独白。《人的七个阶段》，出自莎士比亚的《皆大欢喜》。和我一起想象，一位老人在他生命的尽头，回溯他的一生，回忆生命的点滴。
接下来我要做的，也是每个莎剧表演者表演莎剧时都想要做到的，是体会莎士比亚对元音和辅音的运用，带我们穿梭在他所创造的数百个人物中，产生情感的共振。世间只此一人。
你们可以用英语在心里和我一起默读，也可以看我身后的中文版本，译者是我非常尊敬的朱生豪先生。请你在脑海里想象，一位站在生命尽头的老人，回顾他的一生，同样也是我们的一生。
全世界就是一个舞台，
所有的男男女女不过是一些演员；
他们都有下场的时候，也都有上场的时候，
一个人的一生要扮演好多角色，
他的表演可以分为七个时期。最初是婴孩，
在保姆的怀中啼哭呕吐。
然后是背着书包，满面红光的学童，
像蜗牛一样慢吞吞地拖着脚步，
不情不愿地呜咽着上学堂。然后是恋人，
像炉灶一样叹着气，写一首
哀伤的情歌吟颂他恋人的眉毛。然后是一个军人，
满口发着古怪的誓，胡须长得像豹子一样，
贪羡荣誉，动不动就要打架，
甚至在炮口上
寻求着泡沫一样的荣誉。然后是法官，
胖胖圆圆的肚子塞满了阉鸡，
凛然的眼光，整洁的胡须，
满嘴不是至理名言就是摩登词句，
就这样，他也扮了他的一个角色。第六个时期
变成了精瘦的趿着拖鞋的龙钟老叟，
鼻子上架着眼镜，腰上垂着钱袋，
他那年轻时候小心省下来的长袜
套在他皱瘪的小腿上宽大异常，他那浑厚的男子汉的嗓音，
复又变成了孩子的一样，又尖又颤，
像是吹着风笛和哨子。终结这段古怪的多事的
一生的最后一场，
是孩提时代的再现，全然的遗忘，
没有牙齿、没有眼睛、没有口味、没有一切。
谢谢！
Joseph Graves演绎《皆大欢喜》片段
以下为演讲英文实录：
Hello, everyone. First of all, before I start talking to you about what I am going to be talking to you about today, I want to apologize to all of you. I've lived and worked in China for the last sixteen years. And I'm so sorry that I'm too old and stupid to learn your beautiful language. So, please forgive me. I do think it's beautiful, I just can't say it right. I know a lot of Chinese words, but if I say them, you wouldn’t understand me.
It's a great honor for me to be standing on the stage with these other very creative, inventive and ingenious men and women who are developing all kinds of new and exciting and important technological advancements and with great creativity and imagination. What I want to talk to you about today is a creation that happened about 500 years ago that we're only now beginning to understand full implications of, and that creation that the creator was a man named William Shakespeare. And his writings have had profound influences not only in theatre and poetry in the English language, but as you well know, all across the world.
What I want to talk about a little bit today, because most of my life has been spent in the performing or directing of Shakespeare's plays, teaching students about Shakespeare, directing professional productions all over the world, many here in China, many in Chinese, many mixing sometimes multiplicity of languages, Chinese and English and Arabic, a variety of different languages at once. I've directed several Chinese operas that have been evolved from Shakespeare plays into Chinese opera forms. That's about everything you can imagine doing with the Shakespeare play I've involved with. But what I want to try to help you understand today because it has such an impact in my life.
By the way, that weird picture that you see with me with a long hair is a play that I do and I will perform again soon in Xi’an. It's about my first introduction to Shakespeare which happened many many years ago when I was six years old. So, Shakespeare's been a profound part of my life, for my entire life.
One of the things I want to try to help you to understand is why Shakespeare having done his work 500 years ago in a culture that is completely different than the culture that any of us experience including the people who live in England where he was born and worked 500 years ago. Why he's still relevant to us, why he's important to us and why this innovative work that he did remain as innovative today as it was 500 years ago when he began his work?
One of the first things is that always be addressed when you're talking about Shakespeare is his influence on the English language. I want to show you something here. Can you see all these words? I'm going to read them to you. These are words that we use every day in English. Assassination, film, champion, birthplace, employer, advertising, investment, designs, engagement, retirement, exposure, eventful, coldblooded, watch dog, puppy dog, traditional, on and on and on.
Shakespeare invented, coined all these words, they didn't exist before he came along. And this is only a handful. There are something like between five and ten thousand words that never existed before he began using English.
And in fact, today if you speak English, if you say more than one sentence, you cannot say a sentence that doesn't include a word that Shakespeare created, or coined, or invented. So his effect just on how we speak English today is a very profound one and he continues to influence everything that we do in terms of language in English. We often think of his English, that Elizabethan English, as being very archaic, old with strange and difficult words. But actually, a huge portion of a number of words we speak in English today were invented by him and didn't exist before he started writing, which is a profound part of his creative genius but not really what I want to talk about today.
What Shakespeare was doing as a writer of plays was something completely different than anyone had ever done before him, anyone else was doing during his lifetime, or anyone has been able to do since in writing plays or even movies for that matter. And this is what Shakespeare was doing with his writing. He was creating real believable characters often with accents and character traits from specific regions, the countries that he is writing about, really believable characters.
But he was also doing something that you and I are doing right now. For instance, while I am talking to you about Shakespeare and a little bit of my life, I'm also thinking about other things. While you're listening to me, you're thinking about other things. It’s the way our minds of human beings work. We focus on one primary thing, but in the back of our mind that a little distance is another thought, like I've got to do this later on, I've got to meet him or her later on, we're always thinking of other things.
What Shakespeare created on the stage was a way to see actually what was going on, on the stage, so that you can watch a story with real believable characters, and one in the same time see what was going on in that character's mind. So that not only you're watching the story when you watch a Shakespeare play, but you're also watching what the characters are thinking the other things that they're thinking. The way that our human mind works.
And then the other element that's not often talked about in Shakespeare's writing but it’s perhaps the most important is that he uses the English language in such a way that connects with us on an even deeper level , on what one might call spiritual level. We begin to feel things and this is true, even if you don't speak English, and you watch a really wonderful English language production of Shakespeare. You can find yourself being moved to tears, moved to laughter, without even understanding what's going on. Because of the genius of what he was doing with language. And what he was doing specifically with the sounds of the English language.
I'm gonna ask you today to experiment with me because as I've probably told you at the beginning, I am an actor. And so I do a lot of work with language and I worked on everyone of Shakespeare's plays and I've had the privilege of playing all these major Shakespearean characters. And I want to share with you, I want to you, in the audience, to begin to experience what I experience as an actor every time I work on a Shakespeare character.
And in order to do that, we gonna had to take a very brief look at the English language. And English, when you think about some questions that I'm gonna ask you, please keep your thoughts simple. Because I'm a pretty simple-minded guy. But what I'm about to tell you is true but it's simple. English, the English language is made of only two elements, just two. You probably, those of you who speak English know what those elements are. You can think about for a moment. They're vowels and consonants. Whether you're speaking English or writing English, it's all there is, vowels and consonants.
If you look at the bottom of the page you see the 5 primary vowels. A, E, I, O, U. What I'd like everyone in the audience with me who can understand those to say them with me once. A, A, A, E, I, O, U. Say them, A, E, I, O, U. One more time, they are so beautiful. A, E, I, O, U. If you look at me, you see that I close my eyes when I'm saying them. I'd like you to close your eyes and say them with me as loudly as you can one more time. A, E, I, O, U.
Now, there’re 5 primary vowel sounds, there are 8 other vowel sounds which are mixing these vowels together. So there is only 13 sounds in English. Think for a minute, what are those? You know there's a long time, historians tell us, when human beings, what we all are, did not speak to each other in any language. And over a period of time, language evolved, in order to communicate.
And primarily, when you think about it, it evolved in order to communicate emotions. I love you, I hate you, I'm afraid, all these emotions that are common to all of us across all of societal, linguistic and cultural barriers. The things that we all experience as human beings. English vowel sounds, which linguists tell us, evolve first, are human emotions, trying to express themselves. That's what AEIOU and the eight other sounds are. They are feelings.
If you don't believe me, think about this. In Beijing, in Shanghai, in Africa, in America, in England and Brazil and Spain and Greece. There's a group of people, all over the world, who speak nothing but English vowel sounds. And you know some of them, here in China, who do that.
Babies, all over the world, before they learn to speak their respective languages. When they're trying to communicate you from the crib, and tell you how they're feeling, they make these noises: A, E, I, O, U. And when babies want to be fed or have their diaper changed, they scream and cry. But when they're trying to tell you what they're feeling, they make these noises. The noises of English vowel sounds. I know, I had a baby and watched her do that for many years, before she started speaking.
So, think about that for a moment, vowel sounds in English are human emotion trying to express itself. And the other element is consonants. You know what they are, T, B, Z, V, F. If you know English, you know these sounds. And there are 24, primarily 24 of those. They developed to make these human emotions clear. Because before these sounds evolved, all you have was just a noise of emotion but there was no way to make the feeling clear.
So, all English operates on this principle. The feeling, the vowel sounds, framed by these consonant sounds to make the feeling clear. I wanna show you some really quick examples of this. Look at this word, Wow. Say that word aloud with me. Wow. One more time. Wow. Look at how it's made, it's the feeling, the “o”, in the center, and a “w”, two consonants on either side, one word. So you get a feeling in the middle and two consonants framing it to make it clear. Wow.
Now look at this word. War, War, War. It's made the same way. It's one small word with a vowel in the center of feeling, and two consonants framing it, a “w” and a “r”. Say this word aloud with me. War.
Now let's say the two words together. Wow, War. Now I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes and do that one more time. Wow, War. One more time. Wow, War. Do you feel what happens to you? Just by saying those words. You have a little bit of emotional change, just by saying the words. Wow is a word that is exciting. It means what it is. It energizes us. And war is darker. It's a sad word.
Let's look at just one more word to finish this example. This word is pronounced Woe. And it's a perfectly legitimate word in English today. In Shakespearean in English he uses it all the time. You may still use it, but about 80 years ago we started using a different word most of the time, Sadness. That's what Woe means. But look how Woe is made: it has a consonant at the beginning, a vowel sound, the “o” and the “e” together create an “oe” sound, but it has no end.
Think about this for a moment. When you have an experience of sadness, and I don't mean just something that make you uncomfortable, but someone you love dies, you lose something that is terribly important to you, and you feel sadness. One of the things that it feels like is that it will never never end. In your mind intellectually you know that it will end. You see other people get through the same experience and they go on with their lives. But it feels like it will never end. Look at how this word is made. It doesn't have an end. Woe...... I'm so sad forever.
All words in English, to a greater of lesser extent operate on this principle. Feelings, vowels, framed by consonants to make those feelings clear. All men and women who write plays in English use this principle, either intuitively or they study it to use it. No one before him, during his life time or since his life time, has used this principle in the way that Shakespeare did.
He creates sounds, not only the meanings of words, not just the ideas and philosophies, and the thoughts that are pertinent to us today, they're still the ideas in his plays. But the sounds, and this is the innovation of him, the primary innovation that if you listen to his play, you can find yourself being moved by the sounds that he's created. So that what's going on on the stage you're watching and you're listening and the characters are making you feel certain things, and the story situation is making you feel certain things, but these noises are moving your very soul. And this is what he did.
And he did it in this magical way that, as I said, no one else has even come close to. And we are only now, as actors and directors and theatre artists, beginning to understand the full implication of this magical way that he used language.
One of the things that you need to remember about Shakespeare when he wrote, theaters were so different than the theater that we are in today when we are doing this. And most theaters now are very much like this. Up on a stage with lights and the audience sits out here. It's quiet. You go out. In Shakespeare's day there's nothing like that. It was outdoors, there were no lights. And people stood in the front, talking, drinking beer, eating peanuts.
The street noises were going on. It was in London so it was really busy with lots of horses and bargains and people yelling. In one of the theaters that Shakespeare performed, the Globe, and that side of the globe was a brothel, a whore house, with all that noise going on. Over on the other side of the theater was a bear baiting contest where people were sticking live bears with sticks and making them scream and being chased. People were down here talking.
There were no lights, there was no set. There were no costumes like we know now. There was only language to make the audience pay attention to make them understand. So he had to create ways to get your attention and make you listen. And he did this through the use of language.
And I want you, just a very rudimentary way, begin to try to experience this. We're gonna look at a bit of language now, from one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, King Lear. And you're all gonna perform this with me very quickly. We're gonna rehearse it very quickly and then you’re gonna perform it. The is a part, King Lear, if you don't know the story, he's a King and he decides to retire, and he's going to give this kingdom to his three daughters. Two of these daughters are really wicked. And they drive King Lear to madness. So that they can control all of his kingdom.
And this is the scene, a very famous scene in King Lear, where Lear is out in a thunder storm. Remember in Shakespeare’s day, there was no special effects, no way to create a thunder storm on stage. So he had to do it with language. But also, King Lear is going through a thunder storm in his interior life. So in his soul is a storm as well as the exterior storm. So Shakespeare use this language to create both the storm that you're listening to and imagine it on stage, and also the storm inside this man's soul. And he does it with use of vowels and consonants.
So we're gonna try this together. I want you say with me this first word, blow, which means the wind is blowing. Only you have to connect with the vowel so it sounds like, blow... Would you try that with me? Blow... Now, please give yourself to this because you begin to have some kind of strange wonderful experience yourself. Don't be afraid of this language. Don't worry about being embarrassed. Just try to say these words with me. Blow... Winds, “ds”. The end of winds, “ds”, which makes this noise of a storm. “Ds”, winds, and crack, crack, crack, your cheeks. Good, that was great “cheeks”. And then the final two words, great words that he gives us to indicate the storm. Rage. Try that. Rage. Blow.
OK, everybody stand up. Let's try this together. You probably didn't realize when you came here today that you're gonna be performing King Lear. But all of you are about becoming King Lear with me. So, try to begin to feel what our greatest writer of all times in English was doing, this kind of magic that he was creating for all of us. So let's try this together. I'll guide you. I'll say it first and then you say it with me.
So let’s take the first word. We are creating a storm, a storm that the audience can see in their minds, and also representing this internal storm. So let's try the first word. Blow. One more time. Blow, winds, and crack, your cheeks. Rage. Let's do that one more time, I love that one. Rage. Blow. You guys are so good. Thank you. Please sit down.
What I hope you begin to understand, is that really I'm saying to you is absolutely true. His use of language, his use of vowels and consonants, is so unique and so powerful that we're only now beginning to understand all the full implications.
I want to leave you with one of my favorite speeches of Shakespeare. And it's called the Seven Ages of Man speech from a play called As You Like It. And if you would imagine with me for a moment, a very old man at the end of his life, looking back on his life, and remembering what life was.
And what I'm gonna try to do for you is what all of us who perform Shakespeare try to do every time we perform him, is let his written use of English, the vowels and the consonants, transform us upon the stage into these hundreds of characters that he created who are able to profoundly share with you emotions and ideas that no other writer has been able to approach.
So you can read along with me either in your mind in English or in the Chinese translation behind me which is by one of my heroes Zhu Shenghao. And so imagine in your mind, as I'm going to for a moment, a very old man reflecting, at the edge of death, reflecting on his life, what happened to him, and what happens to all of us in the course of our life.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely player;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrows. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances.
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Thank you!
