Objectives and aims
This year I was in charge of the judging procedure for The Concert Artistes’ Association Speech Prize for Actors. Being in such a position forces one to think hard about the stated aim of the competition, which is “to encourage the communication of English words, with clarity, understanding and imagination”. Such an outwardly simple aspiration, but with so many ramifications! I would like to share some of the thoughts and issues that simple declaration encompasses. Hopefully this might start further conversations, so by examining what we are looking for in competitors, we will be better informed to help them earn a living in a highly competitive and constantly changing profession.
What do we mean by English words?
Let us begin with ‘English words’. First off, no translations from another language. As for the actual language itself, there is nothing here about received pronunciation, or indeed about this being what linguists call British English. There are different forms of English spoken around the globe (American English, Australian etc.) as well as Business English, and that is before we begin to consider the different dialects and accents that abound in this country and beyond. Then there is the issue of historical forms of English, abstruse passages in Elizabethan texts and the Restoration period, through to contemporary slang or argot. Yet all these different forms of the language use English words, so theoretically all are acceptable. The crux of the matter is whatever the medium, whatever form of English words are chosen, are these words being communicated with the relevant ‘clarity, understanding and imagination’?
What do we mean by clarity of speech?
One of the major criticisms one hears these days about actors on television and film particularly, is that they are mumbling. Sadly (from my point of view at least) most theatre performances these days rely on artificial enhancement, to wit, microphones, and as one disenchanted sound engineer commented, ‘If an actor is mumbling all we can do is make the mumble louder’. Intelligibility = Audibility+ Clarity. Sound engineers can help the audibility, but the actor must supply the clarity.
The reasons for the use of microphones in theatres are many and varied, and would need several articles for explanation. There is also much discussion about projection or the lack of it, amongst contemporary actors, but if we concentrate for now on that comment of the engineer’s, as educators we can do something about the mumbling.
How to achieve clarity of speech
Not gabbling or racing through passages, giving due weight to the important words, and keeping the energy through to the end of the line are all classic tenets. My singing colleagues should probably look away now, as tone is something that can really only be produced on a vowel sound, but for actors (certainly working in English) most of the information in a word is conveyed through the consonants. Helpfully, most consonants in the ‘Speech banana’ fall in the mid- to high- frequency range, but additionally hitting those T’s and P’s is always a step in the right direction.
Clarity of intention
In a theatre, deathbed or intimate scenes require additional help from the writer. As there is quantifiable distance to be traversed between what is happening on stage and the audience, so degrees of literary illustration or stage directions are required. But when a camera is close up to an actor, a skilled writer will write such scenes differently and the actor will respond accordingly. If a character on screen is in extremis for example, and says the words ‘I love you’, we understand the intention even without a single consonant in place because the mere sounds have become a conduit for communication. That is because emotion is conveyed through the vowels, while the actor’s physical behaviour, tone and expression will channel the emotion. Some actors will introduce little grunts or voiced sounds into their dialogue as seems appropriate for the character. This is not mumbling so much as phatic communication, (communication without information) so one needs to be discriminating.
What this means for competitors
In a Masterclass on screen acting with Michael Caine (available on YouTube) it is apparent that he softens his consonants when delivering close ups to camera and switches to a crisper mode of speech at other times. As far as the Speech Prize is concerned, candidates are not so far from their audience that every item needs to be projected. However, a mix of declamatory and more intimate pieces serves to show technical versatility, by contrasting clearly articulated public pieces with low key intensity.
Understanding the words
If an actor does not understand the piece they are trying to communicate, they cannot communicate it. When I first began to judge this competition, there were quite a few candidates who offered Shakespeare sonnets as part of their programme, when it was obvious they did not fully understand what they were saying. Most of that lack of understanding sprang from a failure to grasp the grammar and sometimes vocabulary of the piece. In Shakespeare’s verse plays, wisdom dictates we break at the commas, pause at the full stops and give a nudge of emphasis at the beginning of a line. All this clarifies the grammar, and consequently, understanding. The sonnets need all this and more, the complicated sub clauses anticipating the compacted writing associated with the late plays, for example Leontes in The Winter’s Tale at his most tortured. Communicating this verbally requires not just understanding of the text, but an ability to phrase these jostling thoughts in a meaningful and dynamic manner. For these reasons a few years ago, I suggested asking candidates to only offer material they were fully confident in, which led to far fewer sonnets this year. I am aware that many members of the AESS would prefer to see an obligatory Shakesperean component in the competition, and while I understand the reasons behind this my feeling is that candidates should be able to show their strengths in a competition, not their weaknesses. If they are at home with the Bard, great, but if not, then they can work on that aspect of their performance armoury in private, until ready.
Understanding the emotion
There are other forms of understanding beyond the merely textual, one of these being emotional. While it is impossible to put an old head on young shoulders, the range of emotional understanding conveyed every year is intense, but often limited. Having asked for fewer programmes about love, this year saw a wide variety of topics explored, which allowed for so much more emotional colour, and frankly greater enthusiasm on the part of the judges. (Five+ hours of amatory angst can have a numbing effect on the most open-minded panellists.) The other side of the coin is that candidates can induct the audience into original areas of experience, as in Madeleine Gray’s programme, The five human senses – through a neurodiverse lens.
Free your imagination
This leads me to ‘Imagination’, which in a competition falls into two categories, programming (as above) and interpretation. For the latter, any text one decides to perform is only a blue print, rather like an architectural plan; it is a two-dimensional outline of a multi-dimensional outcome. Not only must an actor voice the words, but they need to move and have the ability to employ every imaginable means to dramatize their interpretation. Emre Gozlugol used finger clicks to represent ‘light bulb’ moments and link items together. Leo Shak morphed physically and vocally from one character to another in ‘A Monster Calls’ and others used the opportunity for unaccompanied song to add more layers of interest to their programmes. ‘Stand and deliver’ (or park and bark) is one way, but there are so many others!
Exceed your limitations
As performers we have voices and bodies at our disposal so we should work at keeping our physical and emotional resources always honed and ready, as well as bringing imagination to bear on how these resources might be deployed. We know what has been required in the past, we have no way of knowing what we shall be asked to do in the future. Similarly, just because there have been few, if any performances of Restoration Comedy in the West End for nearly 50 years does not mean students should not be prepared for them. Directors will decide on how they wish to use performers’ abilities, and will appreciate being offered choices rather than restrictions in the ‘clarity, understanding and imagination’ departments. It is up to us as educators to make sure our students can rise to the challenge.
