This chapter will show how an actor who has been trained in what I will call ?the Lecoq
tradition? may approach the rehearsal of Shakespeare?s text. No one can legitimately claim to
make statements that are true in all contexts for all actors who have come into contact with
Lecoq?s work. It is possible, however, to argue for patterns of agenda, vocabulary and approach,
and in trying to do so I will draw largely upon Ariane Mnouchkine?s production of Richard II
(1981) for her company Théâtre du Soleil. In addition, I will refer to two productions of
Shakespeare I directed, for which my approach was influenced by Lecoq?s ideas: A Midsummer
Night?s Dream (2009) and Macbeth (2011), both at St Peter?s Arts Centre, Preston in the UK. I
will also mention in passing two productions of Shakespeare plays by Theatre de Complicite for
elements of supporting evidence.

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.

This is the first study of gesture in Shakespeare, tackling not only those gestures declared in the text, but also drawing on recent scholarship on kinesics and gestural codes to shed new light on practice. Through theoretical and practical analysis of the role of gesture, Tunstall argues that it must be seen within a network of non-verbal acts.