Anna Phillips-Brown

Prof. Melissa Flaim

Speech for the Actor

May 2, 2017

Brighton Beach Memoirs at Theater J

People speak using 6 resonators: the back of the head, the top of the head, the hard palate,

the teeth, the nose, and the chest. The differences between each of these resonators was made

very clear in Theater J’s production of Brighton Beach Memoirs. Each character, depending on

age, circumstance, and personality, emitted sound from different resonators. While there were

obviously many more elements of an actor’s speech present and utilized throughout the

production, the resonators were the most evident, particularly in the actors who played Eugene,

Laurie, and Kate. The resonators utilized by the actors who played Eugene, Laurie, and Kate

were extremely unique and effective in their deliveries of their respective characters.

The show takes place at the very beginning of World War II, with a Jewish family living

in Brooklyn. The story primarily focuses on a young boy’s recounts of the family’s events, such

as a cousin wanting to run away to be on Broadway, a brother who gambles away the little

money his family has, an aunt who’s too afraid of causing more pain in her family to make a

decision herself, a father who is trying his best to keep his family together while he himself is

falling apart, and a mother too concerned about keeping everyone alive and comfortable to worry

about how much she’s given up. Eugene is the young boy we hear these stories from, often

described in moments of breaking the fourth wall and explanations directly to the audience. In

these situations, Eugene speaks in a very distinct mix between the nasal and teeth resonators.
This particular mix helps to determine his age and innocence, as everything he says is very

forward and full of energy. It was very interesting to me how obvious his resonators were and the

differences between his and the rest of the cast, because it really did solidify the idea that this

boy was probably around the age of thirteen or fourteen. This was also accompanied by what

appeared to be somewhat shallow or quickened breathing, as his body tried to keep up with his

energy level.

Another interesting mix was that of Laurie, the sickly cousin who has come with her

mother and sister to live with Eugene’s family following the death of their father. This girl is

perhaps even younger than Eugene, though in reality the actors are about the same age. Her

resonators are nasal and in the top of her head, as everything she says is pointed and childish but

with an air of regality and femininity. At first a believed her resonators to be in the back of her

head, but after further observation, I realized her voice was not quite as smooth as someone who

speaks out of the back of their head, and was more elevated but strong. This type of voice serves

her character well, as she is often complaining when someone asks her to perform a task or

making fun of people who she believes herself to be smarter than, and may not be far off. Laurie

is too young to use a genuine ingenue resonator, because if she were to use her back of the head

resonator, I believe it would make her sound like she’s trying to be a lot older than she is, but to

an uncomfortable extent that makes her character not appear believable to the audience. Her

resonators needed to be nasal and top of the head so the audience understood that she was too

young to be self-aware or have the lilt in her voice that a female ingenue does. She was too naïve

for the voice of someone with experience and worldly knowledge, and the vocal production

instigated by herself and possibly the director really paid tribute to that.
 My favorite character of the show was Kate. She is a mother of two, Aunt of two more,

sister, and wife. She keeps the household in check regardless of how little money they have, how

threatening the war is, or how many people they have under one tiny roof. At one point her son,

Eugene, asks her what they would do if they had to take in their cousins trying to escape the

Nazis, and she is clearly overwhelmed and scared, but assures him that she would find a way.

Kate’s commanding and respectable presence requires a voice to match, as this actress is clearly

aware of. Her resonators lie in her chest and nose, the chest providing the authoritative luster

necessary to keep her sons in line. All the actors in the production used some degree of their

nasal resonators because they were all speaking in a Brooklyn dialect, which in and of itself is a

very forward and nasal sound. The resonators that mixed in were determined by their age and

role in the household. Because Kate is the matriarch, she uses her chest resonator. There is one

scene in which Kate gets into a scathing fight with her sister, Blanche, but Kate never once yells

I noticed. Instead, she is still able to project her voice and keep it supported and clear even when

it’s getting caught in her throat with the genuine tears fighting their way out. She is clearly a

master of vocal control, as no matter how high stakes the situation gets, she remains in full

control of her voice, where it’s coming from, and where it’s going.

The production as a whole was very satisfying aesthetically, artistically, and technically.

The actors knew their characters and their technique very well, despite the large differences in

age and experience among some of them. I was very excited to be able to point out what the

actors were doing with their voices, and even more excited to see and hear how it affected their

characters and their choices. Theater J’s production of Brighton Beach Memoirs was a superb

example of proper speech for the actor, and art itself.