Actors trained during the pandemic lack vocal power and acting range, says the RSC leader

Young actors who trained at drama school during the pandemic are struggling to project their voices and lack range

Because they were deprived of the crucial “experience of full vocal and physical presence” within the theatre, as the associate artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) put it.

Daniel Evans said that performing within the confines of bedrooms or kitchens, and reading lines in front of cameras on laptops, hindered the development of vocal muscles in some actors.

At the RSC auditions, he said he was struck by the number of actors, now in their mid-20s, struggling to project their voices – voices that sound strained and limited in range.

“In auditions, I noticed these undergraduates who trained in drama schools during Covid and did a lot of their audio work on Zoom. So, they’re in their bedrooms, in their kitchens, talking to cameras on laptops and not in larger spaces or theater spaces. The effect of that was that some of these graduates from that period, their muscles didn’t develop in the same way as someone who spent three full years in a larger space,” he said.

He added: “Maybe the vocal muscles – the muscles around the larynx, the throat, the breast, for example, the intercostal muscles – are not developed the way they would have been, if we were not in a pandemic. So actors can sound quite monotonous. But with the texts we are dealing with – the great classical parts – one needs great range.”

Evans is co-artistic director of the RSC with Tamara Harvey. He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but left early in 1994 to join the RSC. His work as an actor has spanned Shakespeare, Sondheim and Sarah Kane, at the RSC as well as the National Theater and the Royal Court, among others. He has won two Olivier Awards for his Sondheim performances.

Despite actors’ COVID-related vulnerabilities, Evans said potential talent could still be sensed: “One can see their curiosity, their need to be able to connect to the text.”

The RSC is now working with these actors, giving them hands-on training in “the profound but essential skill of actors who can use nothing but the tools of their bodies and voices,” Evans said.

The company recently announced that it has appointed Patsy Rodenberg, one of the world’s leading audio experts, as Director of Audio Emeritus.

The acclaimed veteran has worked with Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, among other actors, and playwrights such as Arthur Miller and Harold Pinter. Her former students include Daniel Craig and Damian Lewis – as well as Evans.

She is a celebrated authority on Shakespeare and classic theatrical texts, inspiring actors with her belief in craftsmanship – “the act of breathing, of preparing body and voice, in order to have great presence and effect when speaking.”

She said she has long felt that many actors who focus on film and television “don’t have the muscular presence and breathing systems they need to do great theatrical work.”

“COVID was a watershed moment because I noticed this decline. That’s when I actually saw, for example, young people coming back from COVID not being able to make eye contact anymore,” she said.

“Live theater requires that each actor awaken the audience with their presence, which is different in television and film. ‘Presence’ is connected to our body and our breath. But the muscles we need to be present wear out very quickly. If you are in front of the screen, you can mumble. Then the young actors just act themselves because they don’t have to stretch anything or change the rhythm of their breathing.”

She added: “Shakespeare understood that every human being has a different breathing rhythm. So you need a muscular understanding of changing your rhythm with breathing and voice in order to play the role – rather than shorthanding the role yourself.”

Evans said: “As Patsy says, craft is something you have to practice – and then forget it. It’s not like you’re on stage playing a character and thinking about your intercostal muscles… The technique, the craft, is the scaffolding, so that your voice can be free and clear. Clarity is the key because, if the audience can’t hear you, what hope do they have of understanding these sometimes complex classical texts?”