Patsy Rodenburg
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Patsy Rodenburg,
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(born 2 September 1953) is a British voice coach, author, and theatre director. She is the Head of Voice at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and has also worked with the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...
and
Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...
.


Career

Rodenburg trained in Voice Studies at the
Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...
, and initially worked as an actress before moving into teaching. She has been Head of Voice at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...
in London since 1981 and the Director of Voice at Michael Howard Studios in New York from 1982 to 2020. She worked with the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...
for nine years from 1981, and with the
Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...
from 1990, where she founded their Voice Department. She has worked globally with the
Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; , ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was founded in by the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright ...
,
Complicité Complicité is a British theatre company founded in 1983 by Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, Marcello Magni and Fiona Gordon. Its original name was Théâtre de Complicité. The company is based in London and uses extreme movement to represent the ...
,
Cheek by Jowl Cheek by Jowl is an international theatre company founded in the United Kingdom by director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod in 1981. Donnellan and Ormerod are Cheek by Jowl's artistic directors and together direct and design all of ...
, and Comedie-Francaise. She has taught thousands of actors, including
Daniel Craig Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English actor. His accolades include two National Board of Review Awards, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. ...
,
Orlando Bloom Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He made his breakthrough as the character Legolas in The Lord of the Rings (film series), ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series (2001–03). He reprised his r ...
,
Joseph Fiennes Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 27 May 1970), known as Joseph Fiennes, is an English actor of film, stage, and television. Fiennes is particularly known for his versatility and period pieces. Journalist Zoe Williams observed t ...
,
Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and ...
and
Fay Ripley Fay Ripley (born 26 February 1966)Ripley, Fay (25 February 2011).Don't tell me you are going to get my followers up to 5,000 for my birthday tomorrow...I say my birthday tomorrow. Twitter. Retrieved 26 February 2011. is an English actress, telev ...
. Rodenburg has written several books on the subject of voice coaching, including ''Speaking Shakespeare'', ''The Actor Speaks'', ''The Right to Speak'', ''The Need for Words'', and ''Second Circle'' (released in the UK as ''Presence''). In 2005, Rodenburg was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) in the
Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...
. In 2006, Rodenburg directed a production of ''
King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...
'' at the Electric Lodge theatre in Los Angeles. The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' called the production "emotionally potent," and ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
s critic claimed, "The brilliant cast brings this play to vibrant, painful life." In 2010, Rodenburg was listed at number 15 of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' newspaper's "The Luvvie Power List 2010", which ranked theatre's 50 most influential people, saying Rodenburg "has worked with some of the world's most powerful actors, among them
Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...
and
Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...
." The board of directors at VASTA, the Voice And Speech Trainers Association, honoured Rodenburg with their Lifetime Distinguished Membership. They cite it as an honour reserved for individuals "who have made outstanding contributions to the field of Voice & Speech." In 2015, Patsy Rodenburg and Michael Howard Studios established The Patsy Rodenburg Center for Voice and Speech. In June 2015, for the first time, Rodenburg began offering a program to train others in her teaching methods and artistic philosophy: The Patsy Rodenburg Master Teacher Certification Program. This leads to certification as a Registered Rodenburg Teacher. In 2020, VASTA's ''Voice and Speech Review'' featured Rodenburg Voice and Speech in their Vocal Traditions Series.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23268263.2020.1693139?needAccess=true Rodenburg Voice and Speech featured in VASTA's Voice & Speech Review


''Desert Island Discs''

In March 2012, Rodenburg was
Kirsty Young Kirsty Jackson Young (born 23 November 1968) is a Scottish television and radio presenter. From 2006 to 2018 she was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's ''Desert Island Discs''. She presented ''Crimewatch'' on BBC One from 2008 to 2015. Early ...
's guest on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
's
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...
. Her choices of music were: Mahler Symphony No.5;
Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer-songwriter who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as " guably the pre-eminent British folk-rock sin ...
- Who Knows Where the Time Goes?; Beethoven Symphony No. 7; Johann Sebastian Bach – Concerto in E Major for Violin; Daniel EvansFinishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim; Jean Sibelius - Violin Concerto;
Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the class ...
The Keel Row "The Keel Row" is a traditional Tyneside folk song evoking the life and work of the keelmen of Newcastle upon Tyne. A closely related song was first published in a Scottish collection of the 1770s, but may be considerably older, and it is unclear ...
; Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude to Cello Suite No.1 in G. Her choice of book was an anthology of poetry and her luxury a supply of " builder's tea".BBC Radio 4, Desert Island Discs, - Patsy Rodenburg
/ref>


Personal life

Rodenburg was married to a teacher at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, but his alcoholism led to the breakdown of the relationship. She later lived until 2016 with ballet dancer and choreographer Antonia Franceschi and their son Michael Franceschi.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodenburg, Patsy 1953 births Living people Academics of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama English LGBTQ entertainers Officers of the Order of the British Empire