Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

About: Royal Central School of Speech and Drama is a education organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Political theatre & Queer. The organization has 57 authors who have published 94 publications receiving 332 citations. The organization is also known as: CSSD & The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art.

Walk in/Walk As My Shoes: Puppetry and Prosocial Empathy in Healthcare

Abstract: This article explores the connections between puppetry performance practice and the activation of empathy, considering the synergies between puppetry and medical practice where empathy is a key factor in healing. I draw on a consideration of the place of puppetry within ritual transitional and healing practices to develop an examination of contemporary modes of performance which require deep listening, response and attention. I examine the connections between neuroscience and puppetry which suggest that attitude-taking engenders empathy, and compare this to my puppetry training practice to suggest that training for and engaging in puppetry practice can encourage and stimulate empathy. This has significance for practitioners of puppetry working in healthcare contexts, and for medical practitioners who undertake some form of puppetry, either within their training or as continuing professional development. Although the different forms of empathy are connected in practice, the article focuses especially on affective (emotional), cognitive and social empathy.

Comedy on the spectrum: An interview with Asperger's Are Us

Abstract: In this interview I talk with Noah Britton, Jack Hanke and Ethan Finlan, three members of Asperger's Are Us, a comedy troupe based in Massachusetts comprised of four individuals with Asperger's. The fourth member, ‘New’ Michael Ingemi, joined the interview just as we were wrapping up. Since its first description by Hans Asperger, many clinicians have suggested that Asperger's is characterized by deficits in humour comprehension.1 This view has been challenged by V. Lyons and M. Fitzgerald but there is still surprisingly little empirical literature on the topic, and this myth seems to persist despite much anecdotal evidence to the contrary. I would suggest that the very existence of Asperger's Are Us undermines that persistent myth. In our discussion the group talk about their sense of humour, how it might differ from that of a neurotypical person and what they think about popular representations of the condition. Furthermore, I would suggest that their views, and their work more generally, are bes...

Can a computer-generated voice be sincere? A case study combining music and synthetic speech

Abstract: This article explores enhancing sincerity, honesty, or truthfulness in computer-generated synthetic speech by accompanying it with music. Sincerity is important if we are to respond positively to any voice, whether human or artifi cial. What is sincerity in the artifi cial disembodied voice? Studies in musical expression and performance may illuminate aspects of the ‘ musically spoken ’ or sung voice in rendering deeper levels of expression that may include sincerity. We consider one response to this notion in an especially composed melodrama (music accompanying a (synthetic) spoken voice) designed to convey sincerity.

Theatre and Governance in Britain, 1500–1900: Democracy, Disorder and the State

Abstract: This book begins with a simple observation - that just as the theatre resurfaced during the late Renaissance, so too government as we understand it today also began to appear. Their mutually entwining history was to have a profound influence on the development of the modern British stage. This volume proposes a new reading of theatre's relation to the public sphere. Employing a series of historical case studies drawn from the London theatre, Tony Fisher shows why the stage was of such great concern to government by offering close readings of well-known religious, moral, political, economic and legal disputes over the role, purpose and function of the stage in the 'well-ordered society'. In framing these disputes in relation to what Michel Foucault called the emerging 'art of government', this book draws out - for the first time - a full genealogy of the governmental 'discourse on the theatre'. * Proposes a new reading of well-known controversies over the social history of the stage, allowing a better understanding of the complex interplay between theatre, politics, economics and government * Presents a theoretical as well as historical methodology, using the tools of 'discourse analysis' and concept of 'governmentality' developed by Michel Foucault * Offers a critical, systematic and historically-grounded reappraisal of the 'anti-theatrical prejudice' proposed by Jonah Barish, revealing that prejudice targeted 'common' tastes generally, rather than theatre as such Read more at http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/arts-theatre-culture/british-theatre/theatre-and-governance-britain-15001900-democracy-disorder-and-state#XoM5tTH0phQJIeTi.99

Poetic text in contemporary voice training: a repositioning

Abstract: The article examines the practice of verse text as a key element in spoken voice work in UK conservatoire actor training. It lays out the context for a historical debate that challenges practitioner essentialism and re-positions voice practice in the light of the adoption of a range of critical and reflective approaches. It suggests that the imbrication of a number of critical frames within the practice renders the work more transparent than was previously the case and, thereby, offers a new model of studio practice. The article draws on sources such as neuro-science, literary studies and poetics in triangulation with practice- led case studies from an auto-ethnographic voice practitioner perspective. Previously undocumented conservatoire voice practice is also signalled in the work of two voice coaches, Elizabeth Pursey and Betty Mulcahy. The former is representative of a long tradition of voice practice in the mainstream UK acting conservatoires and the latter is a professional verse reader with a practice that adopts similar values. Their work is situated alongside my own verse speaking practice and in combination, it provides a context for framing existing voice traditions with suggestion about new studio frameworks. Conclusions reached include the notion that transparent concepts of authorship and listener receptivity will enhance studio work and that research-led reflection on voice and verse practice will foster an enhanced perception of the auditory message in live performance more widely.