If you have visited the website lately, you will have noticed that the timetable for next term’s Acting Class keeps changing.  Well, it’s about to change again, because I have now been advised by Metro Arts that they have a room for us right through till the end of November.  So, I’m now thinking about whether we will have a break (those who decide to join the Class for both terms) or whether we won’t. In either case, we’ll be having a lot of fun.

I’m off to Seattle next week, then to New York for the VASTA conference, where the main presenters will be Catherine Fitzmaurice, Kristen Linklater and Patsy Rodenburg, with Arthur Lessac giving the Keynote Speech. Can you imagine a richer feast of Voices on Voice?

I will be presenting a performance of The Fall of June Bloom: A Modern Invocation. We (my fellow presenters and I) have been rehearsing online, it’s quite an adventure. Imagine, if you will, being real and imagined in real and virtual space and time, in three different time zones. Up till now it has always been the case that where my colleagues are rehearsing in the afternoon and evening, I am already in tomorrow morning.  But when I get to Seattle, I will be an hour behind John, who is two hours behind Judi and Micha. Weird. It shouldn’t matter. But it does.

http://tinyurl.com/lszvhb -

Read it. It is a Very Good News Story concerning theatre, and what theatre can be when it wants to.

Before I head off to the States to attend the VASTA conference, I thought I would re-read Patsy Rodenburg’s book The Actor Speaks, as she will be one of the guest presenters at the conference.

“An unfettered voice, powered by breath and free of tension, is the ideal we strive for from the first day of class” (p5)

Lots to think about, just in that one sentence. The word ‘unfettered’ pings out at me with the image of fetters, or chains, falling away, leaving the voice, finding itself released from the dungeon, rubbing its (metaphorical, of course) wrists and ankles, standing up to stretch itself, feeling all its joints aching as it tries to move for the first time in a long time, blinded by the sunlight as it stumbles into the open, smelling the fresh scent of pine needles, relishing the access to all of its senses, realising just how deprived it has been – not just of movement – but of the sights and sounds and tastes and textures it had been missing.

Just what those fetters were made of, who put them in place and threw away the key, is still open to debate.  There is general agreement (I believe) that society, culture and family expectations impact upon growing babies/children, who learn to hold back emotions, to frame their utterances and to interact with others in accordance with accepted behaviours, and they (we) do that by unconsciously developing habitual physical tensions in the body. These physical tensions are what the voice gurus, Rodenburg included, would have us ‘unlearn’.

To be “free of tension” sounds like a wonderful thing. It can also sound quite threatening, especially to anyone who understands that it means changing the habits of a lifetime, habits which feel suspiciously like ‘who, and what I am’.  It certainly doesn’t mean letting go of every muscle in the body so that you look and feel like a bundle of rags lying on the floor. So let me be clear: aim, or strive to be free from unnecessary tension in the body, or even more precisely, as free as one can be from specific physical tensions which are inappropriate or unnecessary at any given moment.  Rodenburg’s exercises

These exercises, or others like them, such as those of Linklater, Fitzmaurice, Berry or Lessac, will help you do that. They won’t help you if you don’t know why.  Ignorance is another form of tension.  They won’t change you into someone you are not. Being aware of the actual tensions in your body, and being able to release those tensions at will enables you to change your behaviour patterns, and hence to undertake behaviours which are not your norm, but which are the norms of the various characters you are called upon to play.

That the voice is “powered by breath” is undeniably true. No Breath = No Voice.  I would go further, not because I know more about the anatomy and the science than Rodenburg does – I don’t – but I believe if we think of the outgoing breath and the voice as being ONE AND THE SAME, rather than one thing powered by another, or created by another, then we have a physical sensation integral to an image/understanding of the voice as being the power and the thing itself. Does that make sense?  I’m thinking on the hop here, listening to Jeff Buckley singing “Lilac Wine” as I write.

Think about it. The voice is a matter of sound waves, sound waves are impulses propelling air molecules through space. Jeff Buckley’s pure sound is indistinguishable from the breath coming from his body. If I hear breath as well as vocal sound I hear something not quite as ‘true’, and certainly not as healthy for the long term life of the voice. Oh, so sad, if only he had waited…

But I digress.

“An unfettered voice, powered by breath and free of tension, is the ideal we trive for from the first day of class”.

Yes, the really important thing to understand is that we continue to strive for that ideal. Achieving it is not the point, as long as we strive.

And that reminds me, bookings are open for Term 3 of The Acting Class. See you there!

One of the most common questions I am asked is “how do I find my Character’s voice”, to which I usually reply, find the physicality of the character, and the voice happens.

One thing is for sure, if you try to invent a voice, all you will end up with is an invented voice.  Your audience will probably think you are very clever at ‘doing voices’, but if so, it means they have been distracted from the content of your performance by the ‘voice’.

Recently, I saw a production which I found interesting, engaging and intriguing, for many reasons. It was a well-crafted script, by a new young writer. The subject matter was meant to be ‘provocative’ – the publicity implied that it was intended to be immediately understood by YOUNG people, and hence challenging to older people.  As one of those older people, the only challenge I felt was to recall my own youth, because it was very similar to the experience being enacted on stage. Yes, folks, when I was 25 I was confused, I was lost, I went through identity crises, I couldn’t connect with other people, or life in general. So what’s new? hmmm let me think. Maybe iPhones are new. But as for people, life, love, bad decisions and loss of dignity, no, nothing new there.

The performances were, on the whole, excellent. There was that rare occurrence at the very beginning, when the lights went up and the characters on stage began to interact, of a frisson of excitement as I realised that they were already characters, rather than actors on stage. I like that.

However, there was something strange going on with two of the performances. They were both very clear, intelligent, and emotionally honest, but I still couldn’t forget, even for a second, that they were acting. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I’ve decided that the problem lay in the voices, that is, the voices of the characters. They didn’t reflect the physicality of the characters, they didn’t RESONATE with the actual physicality of the actors/characters. The body said one thing, the voice said another. What I saw were actors committing to the physical status, health and well-being of the characters, while still sounding with ‘acting’ voices. Go figure.

I’ve been having a lot of really challenging, and incredibly productive discussions lately with friends and colleagues, about what the voice is, how it is, why it is, and how I work with it, both as a teacher and as a performer.

done

In this little clip of students playing with ‘material essences’ they are exploring different movement qualities, the experience of moving in unaccustomed ways, and the effect that the physical movement qualities have on the voice itself, as it speaks.

Now that you’ve chosen a monologue to work with, here are some thoughts and ideas about how to begin to approach the text.

Start by thinking about, and acknowledging where you want to end up – sounding as if you know what you are talking about – sounding as if you are the character who actually speaks those specific words because they express what the character needs to say at that moment.

Rather than trying to ‘do acting’ at the beginning, begin by getting familiar with the actual words, by taking the time to say those words clearly, honestly and specifically.

I’ve chosen a short passage from Romeo and Juliet, but the same principle applies to contemporary text, to ALL text.

At last, I think I have figured out the system!  If you’d like to hear, rather than read, the blog on Choosing a Monologue, here it is:

Now, if you want to hear The Master talking about film acting, and giving some absolutely fantastic tips, here is Michael Caine being interviewed for The Film Programme, BBC Radio 4.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00k01ny

I’ve prepared my first podcast, however, I can’t – as yet – figure out how to get it up onto the site. So, here is the gist:

Choosing monologues to perform for an audition is a bit like choosing a meal at a Chinese Restaurant.  When there are so many monologues to choose from, and you have no idea where to start, it can be a daunting prospect.

So, here are some basic rules to get you started:

1 – choose playwrights you admire and respect.  It is much more satisfying to work with good quality writing, and your auditioner will appreciate your good taste as well.

2 – for a general audition, or an audition for an acting school, choose a character the same age and gender as yourself.  You may think it an interesting challenge to present a female Hamlet or a male Ophelia, and it is, but an audition such as this in not the place to do it.

3 – do not attempt to do an accent unless you are very very skillful at it. I cannot stress this enough. Accents are for when you are auditioning for a specific role which requires is, and when the director has asked you to prepare the accent.  For a general audition, and for the acting colleges, they want to hear you, not a fake sounding voice.

3 – read the play.  An audition monologue is really a scene from a play, and you cannot do yourself justice if you don’t know the context, the background and the journey of your character.  Often you may be attracted to a monologue, only to discover that you are entirely mistaken in what you assume to be the context. It is easy to do a superficial reading which can lead you up the garden path. So read the whole play – and if you can’t get a copy of the play, don’t do that monologue. Having read the play, see if you can find one point of connection with the life, or circumstances, or behaviour of the character you are thinking of playing. If you can find just one, you can play that character.

Of course, none of this actually helps you to be sure that you have chosen the perfect monologue.  That’s because nothing can guarantee such a thing, because there is no such thing!

So, here’s the thing: you will need to work on more than one monologue. Actually, you need to work on about 4, at any given time. So, if you know which plays you like, and which characters you would like to play (given half a chance), pick two (at least) which offer some kind of contrast, for example:

a) period piece / contemporary play

b) comic role / dramatic role

c) verse drama / prose

d) upper class / working class

e) outgoing / introspective

f) practical person / dreamer

g) decent, admirable person / cruel, mean-spirited person

I’m sure you get the idea. This will narrow down your choices.

There are loads of books with monologues for men, and for women, and there are many websites offering monologues as well. Always ensure that you choose a monologue from a play, rather than a specially written speech. You need the resource of the complete play to help you build up layers of experience and relationships for your character, to help you find their place in their world.

http://www.monologuearchive.com/ This is an excellent resource, giving details of the publication from which the monologues have been extracted. However…

TRANSLATIONS

Be careful when choosing a play in translation (such as Chekhov, Aeschylus, Calderon etc). Check the date of publication. It will give you an indication as to when the translation was made. Sometimes, an earlier translation can be more playable than a later one, but it is always good policy to investigate a more recent translation, to see if it sits more comfortably,

cast yourself in the role, and start exploring the language of the monologue

Acting is truth. Acting is the illusion of truth.

Acting looks so easy. Is it madness, or reality?

Unlike the special effects of computerized technology, a live performer doesn’t have obvious upfront cost. All you need is the brass neck to get up there and do your stuff. Right?

Anyone can perform, sing, give a speech or dance without specialized training. If the reason is pure self expression, that that is reason enough to do it, but not reason enough to expect a paying audience. If the reason is to communicate ideas, tell stories, share experiences, entertain or – dare I say it – enlighten, then an element of skill is required.

Imagine coming away from a performance with the foremost thought in your mind: “what a good actor ‘so-and-so’ is!” What did that actor communicate to you? That he/she is a good actor! Now imagine coming out of a theatre or cinema, or turning away from the television and thinking about the characters, their lives, the ideas and issues they had to deal with.

What you saw in that case WAS almost certainly good acting.

Performers need to train their bodies, voices, ears, brains, hearts and souls so that they can give us the illusion that they really are a whole host of different characters, living vastly different lives and experiencing huge passions and concepts which we relate to, and from which we gain insight into our own lives and experiences.

The stamina, flexibility, growth and self awareness gained in the process of such training wouldn’t do the rest of us any harm either.

Flloyd Kennedy

(first published in West End Neighbourhood News. Issue No 72. February 2000).