Voice and the Actor

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Cicely Berry (Central School of Speech and Drama; Royal Albert Hall, London) Peter Brook

Voice and the Actor

Cicely Berry (Central School of Speech and Drama; Royal Albert Hall, London), Peter Brook

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English

Hungry Minds Inc,U.S.
30 July 1991

Theatre Studies; Acting techniques; Phonetics, phonology

"""Speaking is part of a whole: an expression of inner life."" Cicely Berry has based her work on the conviction that while all is present in nature our natural instincts have been crippled from birth by many processes--by the conditioning, in fact, of a warped society. So an actor needs precise exercise and clear understanding to liberate his hidden possibilities and to learn the hard task of being true to the 'instinct of the moment'. As her book points out with remarkable persuasiveness 'technique' as such is a myth, for there is no such thing as a correct voice. There is no right way--there are only a million wrong ways, which are wrong because they deny what would otherwise be affirmed. Wrong uses of the voice are those that constipate feeling, constrict activity, blunt expression, level out idiosyncrasy, generalize experience, coarsen intimacy. These blockages are multiple and are the results of acquired habits that have become part of the automatic vocal equipment; unnoticed and unknown, they stand between the actor's voice as it is and as it could be and they will not vanish by themselves. So the work is not how to do but how to permit: how, in fact, to set the voice free. And since life in the voice springs from emotion, drab and uninspiring technical exercises can never be sufficient. Cicely Berry never departs from the fundamental recognition that speaking is part of a whole: an expression of inner life. After a voice session with her I have known actors speak not of the voice but of a growth in human relationships. This is a high tribute to work that is the opposite of specialization. Cicely Berry sees the voice teacher as involved in all of a theatre's work. She would never try to separate the sound of words from their living context. For her the two are inseparable. —from Peter Brook's foreword to Voice and the Actor"

By: Cicely Berry (Central School of Speech and Drama; Royal Albert Hall London)
Foreword by: Peter Brook
Imprint: Hungry Minds Inc,U.S.
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 208mm, Width: 137mm, Spine: 13mm
Weight: 159g
ISBN: 9780020415558
ISBN 10: 0020415559
Pages: 160
Publication Date: 30 July 1991
Audience: College/higher education , Adult education , Professional and scholarly , A / AS level , Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Illustrations Diagrams in Text Page Resonating spaces 10 Possible rib movement 21 Good and bad positions on the floor 23 Bone-prop in the mouth 49 Position of tongue and its movement 53 Palate lowered 55 Position of back of tongue and soft palate 56 Photographic Plates Facing Pages Incorrect posture 62 Correct posture 62 Free position on the floor 63 Tense position of neck and shoulders 63 Good breathing position 78 Demonstrating rib movement 78 Hands stretched above the head 79 Hands and head hung down 79