Paul Abelman, She’s Dead: Vocal use and variety

1. What are the aspects of voice production that an actor needs to keep in mind when he acts? How does voice help in characterisation? (Read up on the works of Cicely Berry and Patsy Rodenburg for reference.)

In her book on vocal production entitled Voice and the Actor, Cecily Berry brings up the idea that an actor should abstain, as far as possible, from speaking with tension in his voice because tension impedes the quality of a sound that an actor could make. Without taking active steps to relax the voice through vocal warm ups and exercises or an incorrect usage of the voice, tension can occur and will lead to an unfocused voice lacking in natural inflections, with no variations in pressure, range or tone because all these are being blocked by the tension and forced out in an unnatural way. Because tension in the voice stems from an actor’s insecurity, one should always trust in the usage of their voice and relax their vocal muscles.

Resonance is another key aspect to note with regard to voice production. With the correct usage of resonance and the engaging of resonating spaces like the head, nose, diaphragm and chest, an actor can have access to a variety of sounds for different purposes. However, an actor should always ensure that he constantly maintains good posture such as straightening the back to allow for freedom of movement within the ribcage and pulling the head back with the shoulders dropped and at ease to minimize tension in the neck and larynx.

Patsy Rodenburg, in The Actor Speaks: Voice and the performer, shows how exercises in exaggeration can help an actor discover his range and help in characterization by allowing him the variety of intensities that can be put to any particular piece of text. With the text being performed in a richer and freer way, the actor has more freedom to shape it in such a way that would enhance characterization.

2. Is voice the most important ‘tool’ for an actor? Why or why not?

Voice is an important tool that an actor can use in expressing the nuances of a character and a role, however it is subjective as to whether or not it is the one more important tool as there are other things like physical movement that an actor can use to bring a story across. Personally, I am of the opinion that there is no particular tool that is more important than another as they should all be integrated by the actor and utilized in equal parts.

However, voice is important because emotion is very evident through the tone and inflection of an actor’s voice, bringing across subtle feelings that may not be able to be brought forth by physical gestures alone. For instance, anger can be displayed by typical gestures like slamming tables and the flinging of objects, but shades of anger ranging from annoyance to frustration to hatred are better, more suitably, and more easily expressed through spoken words.

Voice is also important because it can alter the meaning of a phrase or sentence merely by the way it is being said. She’s Dead is a highly effective example of how voice can be used to denote status, create comic relief, and show how a seemingly straightforward situation is not what it seems. (eg. A conspirational tone to show how ‘1’ might be in cahoots with ‘2’ despite the words telling a different story)

However the voice may not necessarily be the most important tool for an actor in certain cases, for instance in putting up pieces of work in which other skills like physical movement and facial expression are more important. Examples of this would be mimes, or absurd plays where language and voice were generally mistrusted and made minimal or no use of at all. In such cases, the voice would not be the most important tool and the actor would have to find other means of conveying the meaning of the script.

- Clara