Voice and the Actor

by Cicely Berry

Book Overview

"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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0020415559
• ISBN13: 9780020415558
• Release Date: July 1991
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.7" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Voice of the Actor

The book came in new condition at less than half the retail price. Good people!

A Classic in the Field, Highly Recommened!

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.

Ciss Berry is actin