Theatre and Voice - by Konstantinos Thomaidis (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

How can we rethink the importance of voice in performance? How can we understand voice simultaneously as music and text, as sound and body, or as both personal and political?

This book explores voice across genres, media and cultures, inviting the reader to reassess established ways of analysing, enjoying and listening to voice. Using a wide range of case studies integrated with critical and philosophical frameworks, it makes audible the multiple ways in which voice contributes to how we perform identities. From opera and musical theatre to live art and immersive audio walks, Konstantinos Thomaidis presents voice as plural, elusive and ripe for reinvention.

From the Back Cover

This book explores voice across genres, media and cultures, inviting the reader to reassess established ways of analysing, enjoying and listening to voice. Using a wide range of case studies integrated with critical and philosophical frameworks, it makes audible the multiple ways in which voice contributes to how we perform identities. From opera and musical theatre to live art and immersive audio walks, Konstantinos Thomaidis presents voice as plural, elusive and ripe for reinvention.

Konstantinos Thomaidis is Lecturer in Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Exeter, UK.

Review Quotes

"I found ... Theatre & Voice extraordinarily rich and clear. I learnt many things I did not know and I believe that any scholar who decides to write about voice, from any disciplinary perspective, should read it carefully, especially in light of the call for an examination of voice that is attuned to contemporary, participatory, cross-media practices." --Adriana Cavarero, Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies, 3.1, 2018

"An excellent and rigorous contribution to the study of voice in performance ... in Theatre & Voice, Thomaidis presents his research accessibly, while preserving the nuance of his arguments relating to the multiplicity, relationality, and dramaturgically and politically affective capacities of voice." --TaPRA ECR Prize Judging Panel (Shortlisted in 2019)

"I really enjoyed reading this wonderful and innovative book, full of timely and thought-provoking insights about voice. As someone whose specialism is movement, I see much crossover with what is said in the book. The need for plurality and inclusion within both voice and movement is so important at the moment, along with a move away from learning technique towards learning process. I recommend reading this book." --Marks Evans, Coventry University, UK

"The strengths of the book lie in Thomaidis fulfilling his aim of arguing for a reimagination of the performed voice and in supplying many examples of twentieth- and twenty-first-century vocal performances. The overall achievement of the book ... is found in abundance in the discussions of the chosen topics of each of the five sections. It's a satisfying read and a worthy launching point for anyone with an interest in the voice in performance." --Andrew Kimbrough, Oklahoma State University, USA (Review in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies)

"Thomaidis moves beyond habitual understandings of voice as a purveyor of script, or as a manifestation of institutionalised actor training, showing how a focus on voice can address live and ongoing disciplinary issues of critical importance, including questions of cultural authority, the erasure of bodies through practical and ideological traditions, and the dynamics of power in the staging of audience experience ... Thomaidis's thematised approach to the critical issues raised by a focus on voice allows him to glide across and into different periods and contexts of performance, and to marshal a near encyclopaedic knowledge of artistic practice and history ... In Theatre & Voice, Thomaidis more than demonstrates the fertility and potential of voice as a locus of scholarly enquiry. His book not only provides suggestions for a range of fruitful critical approaches to vocal performance, but also signposts a range of scholarly literature that will usefully supplement such endeavours." --Maggie Inchley, Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, 8.1 (2020)

About the Author

Konstantinos Thomaidis is Lecturer in Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Exeter, UK. He is the co-founder of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Voice Studies, the Head of Movement for Opera in Space, and he co-convenes the Performer Training working group at TaPRA. He is co-editor of Voice Studies: Critical Approaches to Process, Performance and Experience (Routledge, 2015) and the founding co-editor of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies (Intellect, 2016).
Konstantinos Thomaidis is Lecturer in Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Exeter, UK. He is the co-founder of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Voice Studies, the Head of Movement for Opera in Space, and he co-convenes the Performer Training working group at TaPRA. He is co-editor of Voice Studies: Critical Approaches to Process, Performance and Experience (Routledge, 2015) and the founding co-editor of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies (Intellect, 2016).