Description
Content
Described by Kristin Linklater as “The great poet of our time”, Beckett’s haunting and intriguing texts penetrate into the deepest layers of our consciousness. Samuel Beckett continues to speak to our contemporary human experience and to exert a fascination for actors and audiences alike.
What are the tools we need as performers to approach this master wordsmith’s compelling and carefully crafted texts? Strength, sensitivity, breath power, vocal dexterity, vocal range…. Linklater gives us all the tools we need to dig deep and expand our possibilities as performers with the challenges and opportunities that Beckett offers us.
The workshop will lead participants through the full Linklater vocal progression as a way of limbering and fine-tuning the actor’s instrument. Beginning with exercises which enable release in both the breath and vibrations, going on to address patterns of tension in the jaw, tongue and soft palate and finally working on breath capacity as the full range of Linklater’s vocal resonating ladder is explored.
The voice work will be applied to the exploration of extracts from the following selection of Beckett’s plays: Waiting for Godot, Play, Not I and Footfalls. A broad range of tools will be offered as ways of unlocking and bringing these texts to life.
Prerequisites
Curiosity and a desire to play.
This workshop is suitable for experienced practitioners and beginners alike, professional and student actors, scholars, and teachers. In short, anyone interested in vocal expression and in the work of both Linklater and Beckett.
What Do You Need To Bring/Prepare?
Loose comfortable work clothes. No tights or belts. Familiarity with the selected Beckett texts indicated above.
Teachers
Bernadette Cronin – Bernadette is s a performer, theatre-maker-deviser and founder member of Gaitkrash Theatre Company, a collective of artists that make collaborative performance work at the intersection between theatre, sound art and visual art www.gaitkrash.com. A designated Linklater Voice Teacher and qualified yoga instructor (traditional Hatha Ashtanga), these two practices inform all her work as a performer, teacher and workshop leader. Beckett performance credits include w1 in Play and May/Amy in Footfalls (Dublin Fringe Festival, Beckett Project in Ireland (dir. Phillip Zarrilli), Beckett on Barracka, Beckett @ the Factory). Other recent performance credits include Anna in her translation/adaptation project Killing Stella, Camille in Cosy by Kaite O’Reilly (dir. Phillip Zarrilli), Solange in playing ‘the maids’, after Genet. Bernadette holds a PhD in Theatre from the University of Exeter and has published in the areas of adaptation, collaborative practice, and performance analysis. She is currently working on a monograph on the voice work of Kristin Linklater for the Routledge Practitioner Series, and an edited case study collection, Intercultural Processes, Practices, and Perspectives: Co-creating playing ‘the maids’ (Methuen Drama). She lectures in Voice, Devised Adaptation, and Performance Practice at the Department of Theatre, University College Cork.
Regina Crowley – Regina is a founder member of Gaitkrash Theatre Company and has been involved in all of their shows to date both as a deviser and performer. In 2010 she qualified as a Designated Linklater Teacher – the first Irish theatre professional to receive this award. She currently utilises this work in the training of performers and has led workshops both nationally and internationally. Performance credits include Mouth In Beckett’s Not I, W2 in Beckett’s Play, Claire in Playing the Maids after Genet directed by Phillip Zarrilli and English in England by Tim Crouch. Directing credits include Killing Stella for Gaitkrash, Gone Full Havisham with Irene Kelleher, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, an adaptation of Cocteau’s film Orphee and Sleepwalking, an adaptation of short stories by Franz Kafka. She lectures in Voice, Performance and Directing on the BATDS Degree at the MTU Cork School of Music and is currently working on a book on Kristin Linklater and her work commissioned by Routledge.
Format
The workshop runs across the core teaching days of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. These days start at 9 am and finish around 6 pm.
Thursday is a day off for sightseeing around Orkney or rest. Lunch and dinner are not provided that day. You may cook for yourself or eat out at a restaurant. Thursday’s plans will be arranged once you are here. If you opt for the escorted trip this will be using the Centre’s minibus for travel.
Food and Accommodation
You will be housed at the Kristin Linklater Voice Centre in our purpose-built Bothy. All rooms are single occupancy with shared toilet/shower facilities.
Mealtimes are communal. Lunch and dinner are cooked by our own chef. We cater for dietary considerations including the following: gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and lactose intolerant. We regret to say that we are unable to accommodate more complex dietary requirements. For additional food information please see our FAQs.
Residential workshops at the Centre are fully residential offerings only. No camping facilities are available. The residential experience at the Centre is based on the participants learning, sharing, creating, and working individually and collectively.
Arrivals and Departures
Sunday Arrivals: We anticipate your arrival on Sunday, sometime in the afternoon is good as this ensures you are present for the Welcome Dinner at 6.30 pm. We shall collect you and take you up to the Centre on Sunday at a time suitable to coordinate in with the other arrivals. (Please note travel times: 45 mins from the airport, 20 mins from the ferry).
Saturday Departures: These will be after breakfast and we will arrange to transport you to the ferry/airport or drop you off at your local accommodation.
Travel Arrangements
For more information on how to get here, please contact our local and reputable travel agency Scapa Travel, advising them that you are travelling to Orkney to stay at the Voice Centre.
Should you wish to arrive in Orkney early, or to stay on after your workshop finishes, we recommend you use Orkney.com or another online accommodation site to make your personal arrangements.
Information on Current Covid guidance for travelling to Scotland and International travel to Scotland. can be found using these links. Please note we cannot answer specific individual questions on travel and recommend you contact Scapa Travel with any such queries.
Please ensure that when making your travel arrangements you have suitable insurance to cover any other losses associated with your trip as KLVC and the course organiser cannot take any responsibility for any additional costs.
COVID-19 Regulations
We are closely monitoring and adhering to Government and local guidelines and will advise you of specific local requirements, if any, prior to the commencement of your workshop.
Cancellation Policy
If you cancel more than 30 days before the workshop start date, a 100% refund will be provided.*
If you cancel within 30 – 14 days before the workshop start date a 50% refund will be provided.*
If you cancel within 14 days before the workshop start date no refund will be provided.
Subject to availability, the cost of any amount not refunded could be put towards the cost of another course.
KLVC reserves the right to cancel or reschedule any workshop or event at any time. Should the rescheduled dates or alternative offered by KLVC not be suitable to you we shall refund any payments made by you.
(*less transaction costs and any administration costs incurred)
Contact
If you have any queries about the workshop please contact booking@linklatervoice.com
