Whats happening in 2012

On your marks, get set, go!

Well of course we all know what London will be doing in 2012....! But here are some other details of what's taking place in 2012.

Edda Sharpe and I have finished our 2nd book and it is probably whizzing its way through the printing press machine as I type! We are thrilled to announce the imminent arrival of

'How To Do Standard English Accents'

Part 1 of the book covers a much needed updated RP, which we are calling Neutral Standard English Accent (NSEA) Part 2 teaches a variety of Upper Class Accents 'Traditional RP' 'Imperial Lords & Ladies' 'Military, Matrons and the Landed Gentry' the sound of the 'Debs, Dandies and Bright Young Things' and even the 'Wartime Wendy and BBC Bertie' (The very distinctive clipped accent of the 1930s) Then we head right up to the modern day sound of the Chelsea set and Shoreditch set... So now you'll be able to distinguish the accents of the Upper Classes and compare them to a sound that is Neutral in age,race,gender and class...you'll get to know all the varieties of POSH as well a Neutral Standard English Accent sound that is still required today for a lot of Theatre/TV/Film roles.

This book is the first in a series of books...We will be launching 'How To Do Caribbean Accents' 'How To Do North West English Accents' & 'How To Do Northern Irish Accents' in 2013/2014

Exciting times for the 'How To Do Accents Series' you can visit our website

www.howtodoaccents.co.uk to keep up to date with all our news.

I'm currently doing pre-production work for a forthcoming TV series called 'Mrs Biggs' and a film called 'Hummingbird.' In late february I'll be working with Royal Exchange again on a production called 'Wonderful Town' 24 actors and 14 accents! Later on in the year I'll be returning back to Belfast to join the team on Game of Thrones season 3. Sally Hague and I had a great time on season 2 so we're looking forward to getting back to join the folk of Winterfell and Kingslanding. And then finally I shall hopefully be boarding ship again for the Treasure Island sequel... fingers crossed that goes a head!

So its a busy year...Olympics? haven't got time for that! Feel like i'll be running a few races of my own over the next few months....

Workshops details:

There are currently no scheduled accent workshops... I have been away in Dublin and am currently in Puerto Rico until mid February and on my return i'll be busy editing our 2nd book in the How To Do Accents series 'How To Do Standard English Accents'. After that I will be kicking off at the Globe on March the 14th so that's the summer taken care of! However I expect I will be doing some more Standard American and Contemporary London workshops in the autumn.

If you would like to organise a group of 4-8 friends to do an American or London accent workshop in a venue of your choosing, then please feel free to get in touch and I'm sure we can arrange something over the summer months!

Jan

Puerto Rico!

Hi All

Hope it isn't too late to wish you all a HAPPY 2011... I am currently in Puerto Rico filming Treasure Island. It is lovely and hot and our locations have been stunning. We were joined on set the other day by a huge Iguana, believe me plenty of people shouted "Cut"...when the saw the big fellah scuttling towards them!

In the mean time back in ol' blighty Edda and I submitted, finally, our first draft for

How To Do

Standard English Accents

Part one: You can learn to do a Standard English accent currently being taught in Drama schools and on theatre programmes. Part 2: What kind of Period posh should I be going for? We have defined 6 styles and types of period Standard English. Now you'll be able to choose the right type of accent for your character and play! It addresses the age long problem of what sort of Standard English is appropriate.

Our publishers, Oberon books, are busy putting it all together and we will be editing and proof reading it on my return in mid February. We are surely on the way to seeing it on the shelves come the summer! Sorry for the delay! But you know it's worth the wait!

I am also looking forward to starting at the Globe in March. We have a great season of plays marking the 400th anniversary of King James 1st bible....

Keep well and creative!

Jan

I'm having a grand craic in Dublin

I'm coming to the end of a fantastic month in Dublin...

We've been filming in some fantastic locations. the coastal cliffs of Cork were stunning, Dublin Docks were great but mighty cold and this week we're off to Slane Castle. After Xmas we'll be in Puerto Rico and we'll have gone from one climate extreme to the other! It has been Minus 8 some days out on location and apparently when we get to Puerto Rico it'll be 30 and very humid and some big ol' juicy mosquito's having a nibble on your ankles of a night time!

The cast and crew have been fab and there has been plenty of Guiness of an evening, well you've got to keep your strength up somehow!

Part 2 of the Treasure Island film shoot will be hot and sunny yippeee! So i'm getting ready to ditch the thermals and pack the sunscreen and shorts!

Happy Festive season to you and all good things for 2011

Jan x

How To Do Stage Standard English & Period R.P

Our second book is coming along nicely!

We've now finished the first part of the book which deals with learning a Stage Standard. This is the accent that all drama students learn when they're at Drama School and now we're having great fun with the second part....We've been looking at lots of clips from numerous films, my favourite being Brief Encounter 'Oh dear I seem to have something in my eye!' and identifying all the different types of period RP. It'll mean that actors can make sure they choose and learn the right type of RP for the period, play and character.

We've got some fantastic recordings that I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to! What's great about the book is that you can really be specific about the sound you are producing and the character you're playing. After all, not all posh people speak the same! So often I've found working with actors, they struggle to identify what the differences are between period and style. Which often means they can only do one type of RP. The danger with this is that they end up always sounding the same whether they're playing a contemporary RP speaker or a 1930's Miltary type! It would seem odd for example, to do a 'Hugh Grant' type of RP to play Hamlet, unless you were making him a public school boy! Or to do a Noel Coward clipped RP to play a contemporary socialite!

We're on target with getting the book finished... we're hoping it'll be in the shops by spring 2011...We're using the How To Do Accents system so it'll be thorough and fun and of course will have our usual dose of humour!

Watch this space!!

Workshop details:

Hi All

As you may know I run alot of workshops and of course do one to one Accent coaching but these are my most popular accent workshops! Keep looking to see when the next one is.... Or if there is a bunch of you that would like to book a days workshop in these or any other accent, get in touch!

1) Traditional London and Contemporary London (street!)

2) Stage Standard and period RP.... choose the right sound for the period,play and character!

3) General American (Particularly good for those heading over to the USA for Pilot season)

Jan

American Workshop dates:

Wow I've had such a great response from the workshop on the 13th Feb (it sold out very quickly!!) that I've decided to do two extra dates! I've still got 2 places left for the 14th Feb and 2 places left for the 6th March!