OCT
12

Taking Care of the Actor’s Voice

By Kevin Stone 

Kevin Stone has been writing and directing plays for over 20 years.  He has experience as an actor and as a director of community theatre, church plays, high school productions and touring collegiate groups.  Besides teaching drama classes, Kevin is the pastor of a church and the managing editor of a ministry website.  Kevin’s play After Hours won the Shubert Fendrich Memorial Playwriting Contest. 

I remember reading in an acting textbook once that the first job of an actor is to be heard.  Mimes may disagree, but it’s hard to dismiss the importance of an actor’s utterances on stage.  The voice is one of an actor’s main tools.  With proper and efficient vocalization, an actor communicates thoughts, emotions, characterization, and more.  Such a valuable asset as the voice needs to be protected and cared for, yet ironically, many directors don’t talk to their young actors about taking care of their voices and vocal cords.

It may help if your actors learn to view their voices as finely tuned instruments they carry with them always.  Just as a violinist keeps her violin in a case to protect it from bumps and exposure to harmful elements, so actors should shield their voices from situations, activities, foods, and even medications that can potentially cause damage or weaken the vocal quality.

As a seasoned director, you might feel like taking care of an actor’s voice is just common sense.  But like most anything, students need guidance to make the most of this valuable instrument.  Their performance and your production will greatly benefit for these helpful tips:

• Avoid overuse.  This is a big one, especially with teens!  Too often, actors have come to me at the beginning of practice and, in pitifully cracked and raspy voices, informed me that they can’t do their lines because they yelled too much at the game last night.  Since trying to talk through the pain only worsens things, I usually give them some water and have them sit quietly through practice.  Actors need to use self-control at games, concerts, etc.  They must learn to attend events without screaming and otherwise straining their vocal cords when they have a rehearsal or performance the next day.  (Your singers might be inspired to learn that opera great Luciano Pavarotti never spoke at all the day of a performance.)
• Drink lots of water.  The vocal cords are lubricated by a thin layer of mucus, and that mucus needs water.  Encourage your actors to develop a daily habit of drinking at least 48 ounces of water a day. 
• Speaking of drinking, room temperature water is the most beneficial backstage drink.  Ice-cold beverages tend to tighten up the vocal cords and the surrounding muscles in the throat, while drinks with caffeine can dry out the vocal cords and leave an actor with a parched, irritated throat.  And of course, skip anything carbonated in the hours before and during a performance.
• Eat plenty of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables — whatever has vitamins A, E, and C — to help keep the throat’s mucus membranes healthy.  And for anyone who is prone to heartburn or acid reflux, the best advice is to avoid spicy foods which can create havoc on the voice.
• Mouthwash that contains alcohol will dry out the throat.  Suggest that your students only use it to swish around in their mouth.  Warm salt water is the best option if they must gargle.
• Practice good hygiene, such as washing hands often, to stay healthy and prevent colds and flu.  Antihistamines, which are in most allergy medicines and cough and cold treatments, actually dry out the throat and nose and can affect the voice.  Actors who need these kinds of treatments should talk to their doctors about what remedies are best to use in their situation.
• Avoid using anesthetic throat sprays.  These simply dull the pain to mask a sore throat.  They don’t solve the problem, and actors risk further damage to their voices if they continue to speak when they should be resting their voices.
• Get plenty of sleep.  Physical fatigue has a negative effect on the voice.
• Use a humidifier in the home, especially during the winter months when the furnace dries the air or if you live in a dry climate.
• Use good posture and breathe properly when speaking.  Limbering up the voice with some vocal exercises before going on stage also helps prevent vocal strain.  Pioneer Drama carries vocal warm-up CDs (one is even specifically for middle school voices!), that are helpful for both actors and singers.

Of course, all the preventative care in the world won’t guarantee the actor’s voice will always be in top form.  In the event of an emergency — the actor is losing his voice on the evening of the performance — here are some things to try:

• Rest the voice.  Absolutely no talking until necessary.  Give the afflicted actor a pen and paper to communicate.
• Drink some warm tea with honey.  This age-old soothing remedy has helped many actors get through a performance. 
• Breathe moist air.  Inhale steam from a bowl of hot water.
• Gargle a warm salt water solution. 

Your actors’ voices are amazing instruments capable of a broad range of expression, dynamic levels of intensity, and subtle inflection.  As your actors learn to take care of their voices, they can keep their instruments in good working order for years and years on the stage.