Lessons on failure from Nikolai Gogol

Why it’s ESSENTIAL to screw up…

In 2009 I was rehearsing my own one man adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's Diary of a Madman.

It told the story of a civil servant fixated on social rank and status.

One day, he starts hearing a 'voice', and realises that his bosses lapdog is talking to him - and this marks the beginning of his descent into madness.

As the gap between reality and his 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 reality widens,
he takes greater and greater liberties to explain his situation.

My adaptation took place in one single room.

This meant that it could read as:
• His Bedroom
• His Prison
• His Mind.

At one point, he is dragged into an asylum,
but he attempts to justify this transition,
insisting he has been brought to Spain to be crowned King Ferdinand VIII.

It was a crucial part of the show,
where the divide between the rational and irrational was paper thin.

As part of the transition,
we decided that the character would trash the room.
This would symbolise his fight with the doctors incarcerating him,
but he could then 'interpret' it as his battle to seize the throne.

To help the audience with this transition,
I had the idea of taking an upturned table and writing 'Madrid' on it.

But during the rehearsal, I misjudged how big the letters should be.
And i only had room for the first three = 𝗠𝗔𝗗.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄.

For the director and later the audience,
it created a moment of suspense when you wondered if this 'madman' realised his true situation.

He writes the label 'MAD'.
He contemplates it.
And then writes 'RID' under it...
demonstrating he is actually still completely lost in his fantasy.

All very clever stage business.
And all discovered by accident.

So in Gogol - so in all things.
If you start any creative project with no room for experimentation,
You're cutting yourself off from the best results.

Voice Acting tip of the week:

It's a phrase lots of people like to use with acting...

'Grounded'.

And it's easy to understand why.

Grounded means:
→ 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻
→ 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰
→ 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰

It's quite literally anchored by psychological realism.
Grounded in everyday reality.

But beyond being simply 'naturalistic acting',
what does that mean technically?

A big thing  - is finding thoughts.
Taking the TIME to discover them in the moment.

As soon as someone speaks fluidly and consistently without breaks, they appear more PROFESSIONAL, but also more 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗗.

Presented characters can still be 'grounded'.
They can have a need to speak based in psychology.

But the more the pace of delivery varies...
The more it mirrors human thought.
The more anchored it seems.

Take the speech below.

Magneto is speaking to a crowd of people - and he's a 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 speaker.
But giving him time to find the right words grounds him.
He can still go fast when he comes to his point.
But it's not just a speech.

This principle applies to any type of:
• Voice acting
• Acting
• Presentation

By all means know what you're saying and speak fluidly.
But also know when to change gears.

@chrisnaturallyrp

‘DO NOT MAKE ME LET YOU DOWN’ - Magneto from Xmen 97 #magneto #magnetoxmen #xmen97 #xmen97series #xmen97animatedseries #xmentheanimatedser... See more

Behind The Scenes of the week:

Audible recently released a reimagining of George Orwell’s 1984 with an all star cast including Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott and Tom Hardy. This look into the adapting and recording process offers a great insight into the unique demands of audio drama.

Media Recommendations:

Every week, I share three podcasts, articles or interviews that I’d strongly recommend. This week…

1. Scarlett Johnasson challenges Open AI

   The movie star has successfully challenged Open AI after it released an AI voice that sounded very close to her own. As Open AI had approach her twice requesting to use her voice (which she turned down), this case may set an important precedent.

2. IGN acquires multiple platforms

   IGN Entertainment’s recent acquisition of a family of digital brands in the gaming space heralds yet more likely redundancies - and possibly a growing media monopoly.

3. The influencer misdirect

   Online influencer Grace Beverley was found to be breaking advertising rules by not explicitly stating some of her content were advertisements.

Favourite Writing of the week: DEFEAT

So if you're connected to many UK voice actors -
You better brace yourself 👀

It was the One Voice Awards this PAST weekend.

5000 submissions.
150 nominees.
In over 30 categories.

There's gonna be a lot of red carpet shots.

I was nominated for my 20th VO award...
And for the 20th time, I did't win it.

SO. I'm going to evoke another artist's words that articulate far more than I could scrabble to say!

@chrisnaturallyrp

‘DEFEAT’ by Kahlil Gibran #kahlilgibran #kahlilgibranquotes #poetrytok #poetrytiktok #motivation

I hope you found something of interest in this newsletter and thank you again for subscribing.

If you have any suggestions on future content or voice related questions, don’t hesitate to reply to this email or message me at [email protected].

Know someone who might enjoy the newsletter? Feel free to point them here: https://www.naturallyrp.co.uk/newsletter

Thanks again for reading, and until next week Honey and I wish you a wonderful week!