The Opera Singer's Acting Toolkit

Martin Constantine is an award-winning theatre and opera director. He has directed for such companies as the Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Almeida Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, National Theatre Studio, Chichester Festival Theatre, and Grange Park Opera. He established and is co-Director of ENO Opera Works. Constantine has taught and directed in some of the leading conservatoires throughout the UK and abroad, and is currently International Chair of Directing at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He is Co-Artistic Director of liveartshow, an award-winning company making new work with music. ENO Opera Works is a professional development programme for singers who have strong vocal technique and a clear commitment to developing a career in opera. Opera Works encompasses individual coaching sessions and tailored group workshops enabling singers to develop their vocal and dramatic skills in a professional environment, with unprecedented access to the wealth of expertise at ENO, insight into the world of professional opera, and valuable opportunities for dialogue with key people within the company.

Acknowledgements

Introduction

PART ONE: THE TOOLS

1 The Foundations

The Body: Releasing Tension

The Mind: Awareness + Focus

The Imagination

Play and Spontaneity

2 A Note About Emotion

3 Creating Character

4 Text and Music

Organising Information: Given Circumstances

Organising Information: Other Approaches

Organising Information: Music

Objectives

Actions

Obstacles

Points of Concentration

Events

Further Text Tools

Text and Music: Conclusion

5 The Body and Movement

Laban

Lecoq

Character Types and Commedia dell’Arte

The Clown

Devising

6 Words and Music in Action

PART TWO: IN PRACTICE

1 Preparing for Rehearsals

2 Rehearsals

3 Rehearsals in Depth

4 Performance

5 Auditions


PART THREE: INTERVIEWS

1 Repertoire

Interviews with Conductors

2 Approaches to Rehearsal

Interviews with Directors

3 Singers’ Case Studies


List of exercises
Further reading

Index