Speak the speech...

Speak the speech, I prithee, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue......Shakespeare, HAMLET

Here is a simple, quick tip for actors today. When practicing an audition pieces or preparing for a play, PRACTICE OUTLOUD. Say the words, get the sound of them out into the air. It is fine to sit and study what your lines are, but the activity of creating the sound of the words in the air makes a tremendous difference.

Shakespeare is a great example of the need to speak. It is great to read Shakespeare, but it was meant to be heard. Many schools, when teaching the Bard, have students read section aloud in class. That is exactly how we were meant to experience Shakespeare, to hear the words out in the air, to have them expressed, spoken. And really, isn't that what a play is for? In Shakespeare's day people would say they went to hear a play, not see a play. They came to have the actors make the air vibrate with sound. They still do, even in this visual society that we live in.

By speaking the words, we physically become familar with mouthing them, and we hear them audibly in our own resonating head and body. You may have heard or read about a person saying they were "surprised by the sound of thier own voice". That should never be an actor. A critical part of preparation has to be the speaking of the lines into the air. It also gives us an opportunity to play with the words, what can we emphasize, what can we deliver louder, or softer? When creating a part, words are the very brick and mortor that your character must be built around.

When I coach an audition piece with an actor, I always start by just asking them to say the audition piece, to get the words into the air. Only after that can I start with interpretation and character.So practice aloud, in your room, in your car, while walking around. Yes, people will think you are crazy, but as a performer, they already think that of you.

Also if you read this blog regularly, (and you better), you will recall that a great way to make memorization faster is to speak the lines as you read, and listen to them.

Give voice to the text, see what you can find that you didn't expect.

J.T. Turner
The Actor's Sensei
Private Coaching and Lessons available for all ages