Emotion and Performing Accents and Dialects: why does Emotion Get in the Way?

At points of heightened emotion, it is common for actors working in an accent to default to their natural speech. This can even lead to pressured decisions by directors about whether or not to include accent work in their productions. As coaches, we want performers to be acting the scene and not worrying about holding on to the accent. How do we help performers to avoid this issue and provide them and their directors with the confidence they need regardless of the emotional demands of the piece? What can we learn from research in vocal expression of emotion to help actors to embody the emotion and keep control of their voice and accent? Louisa will guide participants through the latest research and offer practical suggestions for working with performers needing to navigate this challenge. 

Louisa Morgan is a lecturer, voice teacher and researcher, with a special focus on Acting Through Song. Louisa lectures with Voice Study Centre (spoken voice lead) and teaches Musical Theatre students on the MA/MFA course at the Guildford School of Acting (GSA). Previously, Louisa taught technical singing at Italia Conti, and she was also a spoken and singing voice coach for the Acting students at the Cygnet Training Theatre. Louisa also taught privately for fifteen years as a voice, singing, and audition coach. Louisa has an MA in Vocal Pedagogy and is currently a PhD researcher at GSA through the University of Surrey, focusing on emotion research in Acting Through Song. She also holds a three-year diploma in Acting with Directing and a BA in English Literature. She is a Vocal Process accredited teacher, mentored by Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher and has been the editor for AOTOS (the Association of Teachers of Singing) since 2023. Louisa recently presented on ‘A text-based Approach to Acting Through Song’ at PEVoC (the Pan European Voice Conference) in Santander, funded as a recipient of the VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association) interdisciplinary engagement grant.