Shakespeare, Cake & Kate

Kate Glasheen has a gift for accents, one that she will share this Sunday as part of Shakespeare’s Birthday Party at Pease Park in Austin, where she will perform some of the bard’s sonnets in their original English pronunciation.

“What we think Elizabethan English sounded like,” Glasheen explained, “Which is nothing like the British of today. It sounds Celtic — an Irish or Scots dialect — almost like a pirate.”

As an associate professor in the Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance, Glasheen specializes in vocal health, verse and scansion and dialects. Professionally, she has coached at major regional theaters including the Tony Award Winning Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Performing sonnets in their original pronunciation; however, that’s something she does for pure enjoyment.

“If I could have another other job, I would want to be a historical linguist, because it’s interesting how the language has evolved,” Glasheen said. According to Glasheen, Shakespeare wrote in a Rhotic dialect. “That means you pronounce your Arrr sounds,” she said. “Some British English speakers do that, but the British dialect is one that drops its Rs. In Shakespeare's day, we’re relatively certain that they pronounced the sound. One of the writers of the day, Ben Johnson, described it as a doggie sound, like a Grr.”

Other clues to how the language might sound lay within the text itself. “The rhymes and the puns in the plays and sonnets do rhyme in the original English,” she said. “They think they’ve got it in about an 85% accuracy.”

Sunday’s Birthday Party celebrates the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s Folio, and is just one of the events planned this year by the Pease Park Conservancy and Austin Shakespeare. “Shakespeare’s Birthday Party: Sonnets” will have two performances Sunday, April 23 at 3 and 4:30 p.m. This event, which will be held in the newly-renovated Peace Park Tudor Cottage, is free with reservations from austinshakespeare.org or peasepark.org. This outdoor event will feature sonnets, music, dance, refreshments and birthday cake for everyone.

“It’s a lovely park,” Glasheen said. “There’s a beautiful courtyard in front of the cottage. There will be a little bit of music and dancing. People are finding all ways to celebrate Shakespeare.”