As a professional actor, I’ve worked extensively in all media for more than 45 years. Voice expert Patsy Rodenburg’s resignation from the Guildhall increased my deep anxiety at the diminishing emphasis of the actor’s core skills in drama training, to the serious detriment of one of the UK’s historic art forms (‘Without craft, an actor is a liability’: how row over teaching standards is causing a rift in UK theatre industry). Detailing the causes and radical implications of her resignation is a huge topic, not least of all, the malignant erosion of support for the arts that this government has tirelessly overseen.
To work regularly, to make a living in such a fickle, chronically oversubscribed profession is success. Many actors will attest that the most important quality for success is luck. What is left unsaid is that readiness is all. Readiness attracts luck. Readiness is built on a mastery of breathing, voice, and movement. Without a disciplined adeptness in these, it isn’t possible to confidently relax; it isn’t possible to intuitively, spontaneously play to illuminate our narratives and art.
