"For it seems to me there is so often a gap between the life that is going on imaginatively within the actor to create the reality of the character he is playing, and the life that he gives the text which he finally has to speak. It is as if the energy and excitement that an actor feels when working on a part is not released fully when he commits to words, when he is bound by the language set down."
Yes! There is the rub! As an audience member or a director or merely a listener, there have been countless perfomances I have witnessed which have suffered from this problem. It might sound contradictory even - an actor could have lovely diction and resonance but the speeches remain technically proficient and not connected to character or emotion. (Broadway's current production of Hamlet anyone?)
Today we'll be starting at zero and really investigating our voices and their capabilities so that in the future, our experience with text can be better informed and infused with that essential energy.
my voice is tired from today's work-out! But it's good-tired. Patrick Berger and I were saying after the Jam that we wish we worked out with our voices more regularly; every day or a few times a week! Then our voices would be in much better shape...
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