Why are we shy when it comes to owning our language in this country?
Sure, we make shapes that are flatter in the tongue, more strained at the lips, dropped of soft palate......
But why be ashamed? .....even after training to open our sound up for maximum resonance and volume, are we afraid of investing in our language in a more visceral manner?
I’ll explain: I’ve attended several plays lately in which the actors take on multiple accents. They switch from a standard clear Australian to a light Received Pronunciation (that’s an open English sound in which the vowels very individually shaped).
During the Australian parts, how can I put it? I was bored. Bored out of my wits. And frustrated.
“What are these actors not using their language? Why are they not connecting with breath? Opening their mouths? Letting me into this amazing text?”.
They then changed to RP.
Surprise!
All of a sudden jaws flew open, pitches became flexible, resonances were present, breath was connected.
How incredibly frustrating.
Do we have so little faith in the sounds of our own accent that we have to take on another to really let the voice fly?
No. No. NO!
Take the language. Own the language. It may be called “English” but it is not the possession of that nationality.
Don’t shy away from your sounds. Connect with the richness and, indeed, take advantage of our lovely flat tongued sound for optimum resonance.
Shakespeare was never originally performed in RP - RP never existed at that point. It was performed in the local dialects of the time (you can find some great information here) and those actors had to REALLY OWN it to compete in their own theatre space with the rabble below.
Stop apologising for your sounds, folks. Open your mouths in the way you’ve all been trained to and let those Aussie vowels pour forth......
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