Yesterday I spent the day playing with a new (to me) group of acting students: What A Blast! We began by discovering the FACT that voice is sound, sound is vibration, vibration can be felt in the body and in the air outside of the body. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not actually there!  And of course, once you feel it and experience it as a physical occurrence, you can own it, grow it, play with it.

We travelled to the land of Omnia, learnt the local language (Omnish, of course, which includes all the sounds of all the languages of the world that are known), held elections and honoured the poet laureate of Omnia.

With our newfound linguistic skills and appreciation of the complexity and the endless possibilities of speech sounds, we then addressed our English texts and blew ourselves away. In the best possible way.

My thanks to the 2014 Film & Television Studio International Foundation Class for a stupendous day of growth and fun.

Intro to Voice and Speech Workshop

Please wear comfortable, loose or stretch pants and t-shirts. Be prepared for floor and physical work. Bring a notebook and pencil. Memorise your chosen text, either from those below, or something you already know.

11-1pm

Total Voice: what it is, how to look after it – and why.

Warming up the whole body, toning up the voice, building on your voice as the means of expressing yourself – and your text.

2-4pm

Total Speech: what it is, what it involves, how to use language effectively

Discovering the points of articulation, different categories of speech sounds, how these affect your text

4-5pm

Total Text: what it is, how to make it your own – Every Time

Acting with text, integrating your knowledge, your skills and somebody else’s words to create a character that is rich and alive.