Still taken from film documentation by Liv Penny
A doctoral upgrade examination performance developed with support from Britten Pears Artist Residencies 2022, VASTA the Voice and Speech Trainers Association and Annual Conference 2022 'Converging Pathways', Guildhall School Doctoral Research Department, The Stables Theatre Hastings, National Trust Knole House, SCUDD PRSS funding and The Society of Theatre Research
"𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰" Britten Pears Arts Producer, Sofi Nowell
"𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 - 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞!"
Barbican Programmer, Jill Shelley
"𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 - 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡. 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥! 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥! 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖!!!!!!" Speech and Voice Trainer (RADA), Annie Morrison
Stills taken from film documentation by Liv Penny
𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 1450 𝘉𝘊 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺.
Short social taster - 1 minute
Britten Pears Residency Film - 5 minutes
Full-length work-in-progress sharing and doctoral upgrade exam performance - 55 minutes
This special R&D (Research and Development) was co-commissioned by a Britten Pears Artist Residency in 2022, Guildhall School Research Department funding and the VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association) 36th annual conference 'Converging Pathways' with additional support from Stables Theatre Hastings, SCUDD PRSS and STR. Anna-Helena has been developing an Identity Choir through her doctoral practice-research and professional practices (aka ACT INTERNATIONAL) since 2020. She shared aspects of her findings in the form of a series of film screenings in Autumn 2022 and February 2023 at Guildhall School (Research Works). The project secured private sponsorship and public funding from Arts Council England and moved into a development phase in association with Icarus Theatre Collective showcasing at Britten Pears in Sept 2023.
To enquire about upcoming film screenings of the work in progress and industry meetings email: [email protected]
To enquire about upcoming film screenings of the work in progress and industry meetings email: [email protected]
"I found the work to be overflowing with talent and craft, and like no other piece of theatre I've ever been a part of. I was drawn-in by Anna-Helena's presence, confidence and ease on stage, and awed by the creativity in the storytelling. I am so excited by it!"
Accredited Rodenburg Teacher, William Ryder
"An exceptional artist with such vocal agility and dexterity. Anna-Helena demonstrates her research questions, investigating in front of the audience's eyes. She moves easily between the information and the demonstration of the practice research"
Doctoral Supervisor and Principal of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), Niamh Dowling
"A beautiful complexity of stories and identities honored the way true teachers hold space for their students"
Director of VASTA 2022, Dory Sibley
"Having observed Anna-Helena's work for 20 years, I appreciated the integration of multi-media elements into her show. Her research into creating a practice that is truly inclusive... This work is groundbreaking"
President of VASTA 2020-22, Pamela Prather
ACT INTERNATIONAL - Ensemble adaPtation
Director, Researcher, Composer and Performance Coach, Anna-Helena McLean works through her acting training and independent workshops ('ACT INTERNATIONAL') to develop original ensemble work and radical, new, multi-disciplinary ways of listening. Her most recent project combines laboratory, physical theatre with new materialist, feminist conceptual frameworks to interrogate what the term 'feminising' brings to a new imaginative landscape for theatre and acting training. The research looks to generate more ethical approaches to devising after MeToo, and for modern-day integrated audiences.
In summer 2023 McLean brought a 16-performer strong ensemble together from all over the world to further her Britten Pears Artist Residency project called 'The Voice Lesson - A Performative Essay'. In 2-weeks the team transformed McLean's solo demonstration of practice research into a large-scale, site-specific, live production and film output. The project culminated in a presentation of staged scenes from the piece, interweaving text from the Ancient Mesopotamian poem 'The Descent of Inanna' with Chapter 3 of Virginia Woolf's novel, 'Orlando' (the chapter in which the protagonist goes through a sex change, transforming from a man into a woman).
The team currently seek a producer to oversee the next phase of R&D on this work funded by Arts Council England, The Lossenham Project, Dartington Trust Britten Pears Arts and VASTA. The work combines theoretical research into posthuman feminisms and new materialisms with cutting-edge acting training to explore a new paradigm for contemporary performance practice. The work was developed under the name 'The Voice Lesson - A Performative Essay' for this reason.
The term 'performative' draws reference to the famous feminist term coined by theoretical feminist and post-structuralist philosopher, Judith Butler and specifically her elucidation in the book 'Gender Trouble' (1990). The concept of 'performativity' theorises identity as a construction of repetitive acts that are a matter of individual choice rather than fixed or unchangeable, 'bio-essentialist' realities. The problem with Butler's concept today is, however, that she defined her vision through language and failed to consider the possibility of vocality as a performative power that transcends language altogether. This is where 'The Voice Lesson' interrupts to imagine a more profound, transversal form of creative expression and becoming.
By drawing on text by two female authors, telling similar stories but spanning up to 6000 years apart, this music-driven production positions voice and vocality before language and linear, binary-bound psychology. An original cycle of polyphonic songs, integrating new and ancient modes of sound making, provoking questions about the role of language in perpetuating binary truths that might be constraining our potential as creative agents of progress.
The new R&D on 'The Voice Lesson' invites audiences to become participants in a new-writing libretto and descent ritual by Nazli Tabathabai-Khatambaksh. An original narrative that merges the story of 'Orlando' with that of 'Inanna' in a form that is closer to a music video and voice workshop than formal theatre. The finished work is imagined as a concert that combines the demonstration of the artists processes with original music, AI interrupted film projection and live, sung-performances.
The production will be offered in conjunction with community outreach offering insights into the company practices in the formation of an IDENTITY CHOIR with ACT Ensemble members and youth trainers Emily Jane Grant, Austin Yang and Sandeep Gurrapadi.
In summer 2023 McLean brought a 16-performer strong ensemble together from all over the world to further her Britten Pears Artist Residency project called 'The Voice Lesson - A Performative Essay'. In 2-weeks the team transformed McLean's solo demonstration of practice research into a large-scale, site-specific, live production and film output. The project culminated in a presentation of staged scenes from the piece, interweaving text from the Ancient Mesopotamian poem 'The Descent of Inanna' with Chapter 3 of Virginia Woolf's novel, 'Orlando' (the chapter in which the protagonist goes through a sex change, transforming from a man into a woman).
The team currently seek a producer to oversee the next phase of R&D on this work funded by Arts Council England, The Lossenham Project, Dartington Trust Britten Pears Arts and VASTA. The work combines theoretical research into posthuman feminisms and new materialisms with cutting-edge acting training to explore a new paradigm for contemporary performance practice. The work was developed under the name 'The Voice Lesson - A Performative Essay' for this reason.
The term 'performative' draws reference to the famous feminist term coined by theoretical feminist and post-structuralist philosopher, Judith Butler and specifically her elucidation in the book 'Gender Trouble' (1990). The concept of 'performativity' theorises identity as a construction of repetitive acts that are a matter of individual choice rather than fixed or unchangeable, 'bio-essentialist' realities. The problem with Butler's concept today is, however, that she defined her vision through language and failed to consider the possibility of vocality as a performative power that transcends language altogether. This is where 'The Voice Lesson' interrupts to imagine a more profound, transversal form of creative expression and becoming.
By drawing on text by two female authors, telling similar stories but spanning up to 6000 years apart, this music-driven production positions voice and vocality before language and linear, binary-bound psychology. An original cycle of polyphonic songs, integrating new and ancient modes of sound making, provoking questions about the role of language in perpetuating binary truths that might be constraining our potential as creative agents of progress.
The new R&D on 'The Voice Lesson' invites audiences to become participants in a new-writing libretto and descent ritual by Nazli Tabathabai-Khatambaksh. An original narrative that merges the story of 'Orlando' with that of 'Inanna' in a form that is closer to a music video and voice workshop than formal theatre. The finished work is imagined as a concert that combines the demonstration of the artists processes with original music, AI interrupted film projection and live, sung-performances.
The production will be offered in conjunction with community outreach offering insights into the company practices in the formation of an IDENTITY CHOIR with ACT Ensemble members and youth trainers Emily Jane Grant, Austin Yang and Sandeep Gurrapadi.
Photos shot and edited by Francesca Cambi
Staged, composed and directed by Anna-Helena McLean
Located during ACT INTERNATIONAL 2022 at Centro Anidra in Italy
Staged, composed and directed by Anna-Helena McLean
Located during ACT INTERNATIONAL 2022 at Centro Anidra in Italy
R&D PRODUCTION
'orlando descenDS'
The core team for the current production proposal 'Orlando Descends - A Voice Lesson' includes collaborating partners in Sandeep Gurrapadi (IN) and Erin Nicole Washington (USA) who join coaching conductor Anna-Helena McLean on cello, voice and electronics. Music and performance direction and creation will be led by Anna-Helena with assistant direction by Emily Jane Grant (Snappy Opera, Mahogany Opera). Libretto and Dramaturgy by Nazli Tabathabai-Khatambakhsh (Guildhall School, CSSD, ROH). Film editing and visuals capture by Liv Penny (Britten Pears Arts) and AI animation (Infinite Vibes). AV projection design and sound engineering by Kendell Foster (Barbican). Produced by Petok Productions with diversity and Inclusion consultation by Petok director, Pembe Tokluhan.
