The voice is invisible. And, as Michael Chekhov technique is about “making the intangible, tangible”, there is something which connects it to the creation of voice, even though Chekhov did not address voice too specifically in his writings. Through my work I am attempting to further these connections as I feel there is something magical about these sounds that come from the caves of our bodies.
Words are vehicles for energy, thoughts, feelings and concepts. Through the breath and the body we express all of these things. There is an alchemy that happens between people and words. In order to achieve this alchemy, we need to connect voice, body, feelings and imagination. To have a full voice, we need to make this holistic connection, with each of these elements influencing and feeding the other.
That was what we set out to explore and express in this workshop, The Epic Voice which was held this weekend with twelve artist/explorers as part Chekhov Training and Performance Ireland’s Spring season of Weekend workshops.
The question for me was; what is it that colours the language and makes it so profound and full of meaning? Is it what the word sounds like? Is it the rhythm? Is it our response to it? is it an image we have when we imagine the word? The answer we came to is that it can be any or all of these things, but one thing is for sure, that if your whole being isn’t involved in its expression then, especially in poetic drama, the performing artist is missing something fundamental. We explored physically and through sound, several single words. We discovered that if we explored a word merely by its sound or rhythm, it did not always take us to an authentic place. Sometimes it was our response to the word that was more important.
Then there is the actual direction of the word. So much of my exploration of directions, (A Michael Chekhov concept) has been stirred by Lenard Petit’s exploration of directions of energy. Words are expressions of energy as much as a gesture or movement. If we express the word ‘Hope’ through movement alone, we automatically make a move forward and upwards. If we make a movement for the word ‘memory’, we are dealing with the backspace.It is something coming to us from behind. If you get a sense of the direction of the word in your body as you speak it, you can feel a new dimension to your text.
Working with voice is so much more than technical dexterity and diaphragmatic breathing. Without breath we have no power to radiate anything. Whilst we need the technical tools, they are very far from being the whole thing.
We worked on two pieces primarily on our workshop; ‘Afterwards’ by Thomas Hardy, a poem which on the surface seems slight and whimsical, about his passing and what the neighbours might say about him when he was dead. For the record, this poem is used as the centrepiece for one of Seamus Heaney’s Oxford lectures, recorded in the book, “The Redress of Poetry” which alerted me to its attempt to build a bridge between the spirit world and the everyday (though wonderful) life of the country. The second piece was a piece of Yeats; the opening speech of the Musician from The Last Jealousy of Emer. Much development of atmosphere was done on these pieces and some interesting work done. Curiously though, what we discovered was that one of the pieces did not hold its power as well, when the group started to ‘set it’. It immediately became a bit mechanical. This gave us a wonderful opportunity to discuss process over product, and how with Chekhov all you have to do is commit to the image, commit to the gesture or atmosphere and the performance power will be there. Rather like Thomas Hardy you will be bringing these extraordinary spiritual elements to the mundane concerns of the everyday world.
And then, in true alchemical style due to someone having to leave the workshop early, I found we had an hour to explore something else. i had intended to do this earlier, but had not found a place for it. in two groups, the participants take the piece and then create a musical soundtrack of it, using instruments and sound alone. No words from the poem were allowed.You had to more or less follow the form of the piece you were using. This exercise gives you a sense of what is important, what is the form, what images are important and what is the general mood or feel in a way that just reading or intellectualising it can never do. it gives you a strong sense of a direction for the piece, that, had we time to return to the original spoken work using the poem, would have influenced it a lot. it was fitting end to our exploration.
The next workshop Imaginary Body,Character Centre, will be working with a well known play and using two elements a performer can explore in their private work developing character. To book your place, email chekhovtrainperformireland@gmail.com or info@chekhovtrainingandperformanceireland.com the workshop is March 29-31 and will be held in Galway.
Max Hafler - Radiating /Receiving 