September 18, 2008
by: Luigi
Anonymous Guest Writer
“What did he say??”
“I couldn’t hear that!”
“Did he say where they were going?”
“Who did she say was coming?”
“I can’t understand that guy.”
“I wish they would speak up.”
“My hearing is good but I always have trouble when he/she is speaking.”
Have you overheard comments like these? Have you made comments like these? Luigi recently attended a production in another venue and was seated near the top of the house. Since some dialog was lost to him (and, from conversations such as those above, to others nearby), he moved to the third row during intermission. There, Luigi overheard a gentleman in front of him say to his companion, “I can’t understand anything that person says. I lose interest in the play when I have to concentrate so hard to hear.” It isn’t just volume that’s involved. It’s diction, articulation, pronunciation and projection.
Luigi calls them the BIG 4.
How can a production reach opening night and these things still be a problem? Several things come to mind:
-- Actors’ lack of training. Even some high schools rely on body mics for their productions leaving student actors without motivation or technique for projection.
-- Directors and others who know the script are present during rehearsals. The words aren’t new to them. If you know what someone is saying chances are you will hear it easily. However, since the words are unfamiliar to audience members, dialogue must be clear and audible for the entire house.
-- Voices can be lost when actors are facing away from the audience. Of course lines can’t all be directed straight out front. The action of a play requires movement resulting in delivery of lines to the side or even upstage. It’s the actor’s responsibility to make sure these lines are heard everywhere in the house no matter where they are directed.
-- Rehearsals take place in empty theatres versus a full house. Think about it – what do kids do in big empty rooms. They speak out to hear their voices fill the room and echo. What happens in big full rooms? The sound is absorbed. Kids recognize the difference and so should actors and directors. Fill the house and words that were easily heard in rehearsal are lost in the crowd.
Luigi suggests techniques such as having a person unfamiliar with the play sit in on a rehearsal – perhaps at the top of the house or facing away from the stage. Perhaps have a ‘sound reporter’ in the house on preview nights, opening night and even periodically throughout the run of the play. Directors, and stage managers need to listen with a different ear periodically focusing on how well sound carries. Attention to the BIG 4 should be a part of the overall process. Otherwise, the result may be as the man in the second row said, “I lose interest in the play when I have to concentrate so hard to hear.”
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