The Actor Speaks

Patsy Rodenburg, OBE, is Professor of Text and Poetry at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, UK after serving as Head of Voice from 1981–2016. In 1981 she was appointed the Voice Coach for the Royal Shakespeare Company, responsible for the works of the Company in London, and in 1990 was appointed the first Head of Voice at the Royal National Theatre where she ran the department until 2006. She has worked with theatre companies across the UK including Theatre de Complicitè, Shared Experience, Cheek by Jowl and the Royal Court, having coached numerous West End and Broadway productions. Patsy has also worked at many major theatre companies all over the world, including Stratford Festival Theatre (Ontario, Canada), Kabuki Theatre (Japan), Indian National Theatre (Mumbai, Japan), Lithuania National Drama Theatre (Vilnius, Lithuania), Royal Dramatic Theatre (Stockholm, Sweden), The Market Theatre (Johannesburg, South Africa), Beijing Opera (China) and Verbier Festival (Verbier, Switzerland). She has been teaching storytelling to teachers and corporate leaders since 1976.

Foreword by Judi Dench
Introduction: Stories, Theatre, Actors
Acknowledgements

Stage One: The Actor First Speaks
Stage Two: Extending the Voice into Resonance, Range and Speech
Stage Three: Voice and Speech Meet Word and Text
Stage Four: Voice and Text Meet the Rehearsal
Stage Five: Voice, Text and Rehearsal Meet the Stage
Stage Six: The Production Meets an Audience
Stage Seven: Re-creating the Work Again and Again

Index