An Ashland accent coach helps with Collaborative Theatre Company’s staging of ‘Lettice and Lovage’

By Geoff Ridden

From time to time, I’m asked to advise theater groups on accents when they’re staging shows set in the U.K., like the current production of “Lettice and Lovage” at the Collaborative Theatre Company (CTP) in Medford. I worked with the cast on this Peter Shaffer play, first staged in England, in 1987, and written specifically for Maggie Smith who continued in the role of Lettice Douffet, the flamboyant tour guide, when the show transferred to Broadway, in 1990. By that time the star had become Dame Maggie Smith.

My technique in working with actors on accents is to encourage them to concentrate more on the sound than on the meaning, and not to strive so hard for authenticity that they cannot be understood. (I come from the North East of England, and my own native accent is almost incomprehensible to other English people.) Also crucial, of course, is to determine which of the many British accents is required and which region the speaker comes from.

I listen carefully as the cast read through the script, paying particular attention to some key differences between U.S. pronunciation and that of southern English. For example, a word like “butter” has a different central consonant, and the UK version does not usually sound the final “r”; my version of “Tuesday” rhymes with “fuse day” and not “booze day”; and my “duty” rhymes with “beauty” and not “booty.” Names can be tricky, especially when trying to discriminate between, say, “Mary,” “Merry” and “Marry,” or coping with place names like “Salisbury.” And the standard U.K. pronunciation of “clerk” (klaak) and “lieutenant” (lef-TEN-ant) simply defy any logic. Trickiest of all, perhaps, is getting the long vowel sounds in words like “ought” and “class” — the latter is really hard for me because it’s not what I would say naturally.

Sometimes, having spent time working through the script, I will follow up with brief exercises, using flash cards for words which have proved troublesome, and involving the whole cast in pronunciation games (which can meet with a mixed response!).

Susan Aversa, director of CTP’s “Lettice and Lovage,” is very fortunate to have such an extremely talented cast, and I’m pleased to have actors who are so adept with different accents. I worked with Tessa Alleman (who plays Miss Framer) back in 2016 at the Randall Theatre, and with Kelley Vincent (Lottie Schoen) in a reading last year at CTP. I know them both to have fine ears for different voices. I had not previously had the pleasure of working with Tamra Mathias (Lettice Douffet), but she has an impressive resume of experience, not only as CTP’s co-artistic director, but also as a card-carrying member of Equity, with three seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) — if I close my eyes, I believe that she is English.

Which takes me to the principal male member of the cast, Tyrone Wilson, who plays Mr. Bardolph. Another Equity member, Tyrone has performed in 29 seasons at OSF, and was most recently a member of the cast In “A Love Letter to Shakespeare,”  at the Angus Bowmer Theatre. He therefore brings a wealth of experience to this production, as well as a direct link with the original Broadway version of the play, in which he played one of the visitors to the stately home at which Lettice Douffet was a guide. So, when he says in rehearsal, “I ought to remember this from when I did this before…,” he’s not talking about a production a little while back, but a Broadway show, in 1990, when he worked with Maggie Smith!

Be prepared to enjoy  a treat that is quite new (rhymes with ‘cue’!).

Geoff Ridden first came to Ashland in 2002 and has been a permanent resident since 2008. He taught in universities in West Africa, Europe and the USA. In his retirement he has written reviews of books and plays for a number of publications, as well as giving talks in OSF’s Carpenter Noon series. He can be contacted at geoff.ridden@gmail.com.