Voice Resolution

Time and space - some of the most useful things an artist can have - why do we then want to strip these ingredients from our art?

I’m sick of this masterchef-work-against-the-clock-tick-tick-tick-choc-it-in-crank-it-out format that is currently being  applied to anything creative. If theatre is really about exploration, how can we possibly be putting impossible time limits on it and expecting good things to happen?

Recently, our company Present Tense staged a show about Margaret Fulton. The lady herself  came to see it and I was struck by her opening night speech. She talked about food, and how the act of making a good meal is really an act of love. She also (and I’m wildly misquoting her here) talked about how anyone wielding a knife these days thinks him(her)self a chef.

This made me understand why I reject these cook against the clock spectacles in any given genre - the love is taken out of the work, it becomes a mere prostitution of that act of love. The result may be tasty, but empty.

I have witnessed this in the theatre - it is becoming increasingly prominent - five shows in five weeks from scratch (at least the old traveling companies had standard sets of revisited pieces), two week rehearsal periods (don’t worry, the spectacular costumes will make up for any downfall), blue print productions that expect an entire cast to gel, open and explore  a mediocre text in which they have no input.

Yes, we’re all running to a clock, yes, we need to produce product by a certain date, but are we missing the point? Slowly stew the product, give me a small taste of it, and then take it away to add some more ingredients, let me experience the simmering of the work, the rising of the dough, and I will happily pay again to further not only the artists’ exploration, but my own. Don’t try for the finished product every time - sometimes the cake batter tastes better than the cake......

And this feeds directly into our voice work. Take it slow, see what emerges instead of trying to mould the voice, explore and be fascinated by its flaws and ugliness, as well as its charm (quite often the latter lies in the two former). 

I was asked the other night about any resolutions for my new 2013. I didn’t realise it was a resolution until I said it out loud. I’m working on a slow simmer this year - and don't try to hurry me - I'm not that kind of gal.

What's your voice resolution for 2013?