Voice Studies grad advises on King’s Speech

In preparing for his role as the stammering King George VI in The King’s Speech, Colin Firth sought the expertise of a Central graduate: his sister, Kate Firth, a voice coach who trained on Central’s MA Voice Studies.

‘I have had it explained this is common to everyone who struggles with stammering – all you want is to get to the end of a sentence,’ Colin told the Daily Mail. ‘To speak is your dream; content is often secondary.’

Leader of MA Voice Studies and Head of the International Centre for Voice at Central, Jane Boston, says, ‘It is paradoxical that within contemporary voice training at Central, one of the most respected teacher training programmes in the world, the student is encouraged to both “get out of the way of themselves”, and at the same time, to get closer to themselves. This is perfectly modelled in the film by speech therapist, Lionel Logue, who used a firm but friendly stance to reduce tensions and manage restrictive speech patterns.

‘It is likely that Kate Firth, an exceptionally able alumna of our programme, would have been informed by similar approaches when acting as a consultant to her own brother for his role in the film. Not only would she have advised him on appropriate speech techniques but she would also have worked with his uniqueness as an individual. This attention to both the technique and the human being, so admirably and successfully demonstrated in the film, represents a teaching style that has stood the test of time and lives on in the work of great voice practitioners in today’s industry.’

Colin and Kate’s brother, Jonathan, is also a Central graduate (Acting ’89).