Theory of Voice

Voice is the unique sound of the human self, made audible. The sound of the voice is contingent upon the complex structure of each individual human body for the nature and quality of the sound emanating from it, as well as being subject to the state of health of the individual, both mental and physical, which contributes to the constantly, if subtly varying physicality of the individual. It is indeed a truism that the voice is unique, inasmuch as no two humans are identical, and therefore no two voices are identical. I propose a phenomenological discussion of the performing voice, in order to reveal the voice in its material and substantial thingliness as the sound of the unique individual who is the actor, containing within its fluctuations and its nuances the character who emerges from the actor’s engagement with the text.
There are at least three inter-connected challenges disrupting perception of the uniqueness of the voice and defying attempts at its representation. The first challenge arises out of the constraints of a culture that has traditionally valued the written word as the means of interpretation and analysis of performance. This privileging of the written word both informs, and is informed by the second challenge, which is the commonly held notion of the voice as a mere carrier of text, whereby the voice itself is assumed to be “synonymous with speech” (Titze xviii). Such a misconception regarding the difference between voice and speech is bound up with the third challenge, which is the nature of perception itself and how it is generally discussed.

Being in ShakeSPSPeare'S MoMent flloyd kennedy UniverSity of QUeenSland The analyst's task is to account for [the] "lived" quality. .. to show how actors deal with this alliance between the rational and the pulsional. .. for it always says more than the intentional signs of the character (Pavis 2003, 136). Performers of text, even those working with short pieces of script at a time (as is the way with filmed performance) repeat memorised words many times, often with the objective to sound each time as if the words just happened to come to them in that instant, in response to the need to express a specific thought. I propose that when this is successfully achieved, particularly in the erformance of Shakespearean text without losing the heightened, poetic nature of the text, the illusion of 'natural' speech which is described as 'being in the moment' owes its existence to a particular meta-performative quality adhering in the voice.

Voice is a challenge, however we think about it, probably because we don't think about it very much at all. We use and abuse our voices, joyfully and fretfully, all through our lives without giving them any attention unless there is a problem. We hear voices and obey or reject what we ...