Headphone Verbatim work on Actor Training Programmes

What is Headphone Verbatim?

Headphone verbatim is a powerful tool used by artists to produce theatrical works to address important cultural and civic issues of our time. Pioneered by community arts activists in the USA and now championed in the UK by Kristine Landon-Smith, it is a documentary theatre technique, light on its feet, authentic, precise and full of nuance. The model can rapidly deliver the mood of a community through careful interviewing techniques, chronological editing and a performance style where the performers become “conduits without judgement.”

It has the potential to explore intersections of race, culture, history, art, media and technology in the modern world. The module for training in the Conservatoire space gives students the opportunity to learn the application from start to finish, thus being equipped to make their own shows after the module. The methodology also offers an additional approach to actor training which sits well alongside other well-known systems. Through deep listening and surrender to a voice, the actor can investigate transformation - a critical part of actor training where actors are investigating how to create character in any given work.