Vowels and Consonants

Vowels and Consonants

In Mr Stephens' lesson, we looked at vowels and consonants. 

Vowel: The letters a, e, i, o, u which shape words.

Consonant: Every other letter.

We did an exercise where we had an argument using vowel and consonants only. 

The first time, with only using vowels it felt quite hard to have an argument. This is because they are quite open and rounded. You can also make them longer and you can drag them on for ages which is difficult in an argument. This contrasted a lot to the consonants argument, which were shorter, sharper  sounds and resulted in a harsher sounding argument. Therefore, we can conclude that vowels are more open and consonants are quicker and sharper.

In comparison, we did the same but had a different objective: to woo and flirt with our partner. Working with Zafra, I quickly observed that it was a lot easier to get to our objective of flirting with wider, more longer vowel sounds than shorter consonants. 

Finally, we were given the first scene of a MSND between Theseus and Hippolyta, where we were asked to pick out the vowels and only say these. Again, we also did the same with the consonants. This exercise was challenging because there was a strong urge not to voice vowels/consonants as that's part of our everyday routine when we read words. However, from my observations, I learnt that vowels were a lot easier to understand the general mood and atmosphere. This further proved my earlier observations: that vowels essentially open up and shape words. 

Overall, I think these exercises were beneficial because having a better understanding of vowels/consonants/words really helped me practice articulation. Also, this method of practicing a piece of text first meant that later on I was able to recite the lines of Hippolyta later on, therefore this could be an effective learning lines technique for the future. I also believe it helped me pronounce certain words better.

When performing Shakespeare, it is vital to over exaggerate the vowels because the tone and emotion of Shakespeare's language in his plays is very exaggerated and depends on the vowels and this helps us as actors get that across.