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| Voice and the Actor | 
 enlarge | Author: Cicely Berry
Creator: Peter Brook
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy Used: $1.37
You Save: $11.58 (89%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 207691
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5
ISBN: 0020415559
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.5
EAN: 9780020415558
ASIN: 0020415559
Publication Date: July 30, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: We ship books out daily M-F. We process orders by the next business day to ensure the fastest delivery possible. We list the majority of our books in "Good" condition. If this book had any major flaws, it would be listed in "Acceptable" condition. Easy returns if you are unhappy with book. PLEASE NOTE: We ship immediately, however the Post Office controls delivery speed. In a hurry? Please choose EXPEDITED SHIPPING. Proceeds benefit non-profit Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties.
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Product Description
"Speaking is part of a whole: an expression of inner life." Cicely Berry has based her work on the conviction that while all is present in nature our natural instincts have been crippled from birth by many processes—by the conditioning, in fact, of a warped society. So an actor needs precise exercise and clear understanding to liberate his hidden possibilities and to learn the hard task of being true to the `instinct of the moment'. As her book points out with remarkable persuasiveness `technique' as such is a myth, for there is no such thing as a correct voice. There is no right way—there are only a million wrong ways, which are wrong because they deny what would otherwise be affirmed. Wrong uses of the voice are those that constipate feeling, constrict activity, blunt expression, level out idiosyncrasy, generalize experience, coarsen intimacy. These blockages are multiple and are the results of acquired habits that have become part of the automatic vocal equipment; unnoticed and unknown, they stand between the actor's voice as it is and as it could be and they will not vanish by themselves. So the work is not how to do but how to permit: how, in fact, to set the voice free. And since life in the voice springs from emotion, drab and uninspiring technical exercises can never be sufficient. Cicely Berry never departs from the fundamental recognition that speaking is part of a whole: an expression of inner life…. After a voice session with her I have known actors speak not of the voice but of a growth in human relationships. This is a high tribute to work that is the opposite of specialization. Cicely Berry sees the voice teacher as involved in all of a theatre's work. She would never try to separate the sound of words from their living context. For her the two are inseparable. —from Peter Brook's foreword to Voice and the Actor
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| Customer Reviews:
Voice of the Actor July 24, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book came in new condition at less than half the retail price. Good people!
A Classic in the Field, Highly Recommened! December 14, 2006
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
Some years ago, I developed an interest in voice and diction. I had noticed how well-spoken many actors were, and then later I noticed that successful people in general tended to be well spoken. The opposite also held true, I noticed even college educated individuals with poor speaking habits.
I took voice and diction lessons from a local teacher, and then moved on to the classic book in the field, Edith Skinner's, "Speak with Distinction". "Speak With Distinction" is a monolithic work, and many of the great actors of American theatre and movies regard it as the bible of speech training.
Edith Skinner refers to "Voice and the Actor", as a suggested book for further study. In many ways, I think "Voice and the Actor" functions as the perfect companion piece to "Speak With Distinction". This is because whereas "Speak With Distinction" focuses on proper pronunciation and enuciation, "Voice and the Actor" focuses on the processes of vocal production, i.e., breathing, diaphram, and the elusive process of "setting the voice free".
Also, "Voice and the Actor" goes into great detail about the need and proper use of a device called a "bone prop", which is used to prop the mouth open during voice training exercises. This isolates certain muscles, and is an old school voice training technique which is quite helpful.
Highly recommended for actors and serious students of voice and diction.
If you are an actor and don't have this book, your no actor. December 29, 1998
5 out of 92 found this review helpful
Ciss Berry is actin
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