Being in Voice (with Flloyd Kennedy)

Voice in the Body - Body in the Voice

logo - Nigel Bell

Will the real Flloyd Kennedy please stand up?

Quantum Clown (at the bitsFestival 09) with Softie (Jane Barber), Deluxe (Penny Lowther), Olgaskinka (Flloyd Kennedy) and Moschka (Ira Seidenstein)

The 'real' Flloyd Kennedy is many things, as a result of a rich and adventure-full life. I have often been advised to decide what I want to be when I grow up, to specialize in one thing or another. The day I decided not to grow up was the day I accepted my own versatility and began to enjoy my life for what it is, rather than something it could be some day.

So, it's a long story, and I don't want to bore you, so I'll give you the short version, and you may scroll down to the bottom of the page if you want to read the long version...

I was born and raised in Australia, trained in Speech and Drama, travelled to the UK for the "Big Trip" (essential for young Australians in the 1960s) where I began my life-long on-going exploration of all things VOICE, and all thing PERFORMANCE. Any opportunity to take classes, join workshops, undertake training related to performance techniques was good enough for me, and still is. In the meantime, I married, had two children, took part in the UK folk revival, performed street theatre, cabaret, intimate revue and fringe theatre. In the late 1980s I established Performance Exchange in Glasgow and coordinated training opportunities with visiting artists such as Yoshi Aida, Krysztov Miklasewski (of Cricot2) and Andrei Serban. The greatest influence on my performing and teaching practice came from training with, and observing the rehearsal practices of the Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg. I was Artistic Director of Golden Age Theatre, an ensemble company which played at Festivals and toured Scotland for five years, until I returned to Brisbane in 1997.

Nowadays, I teach voice and acting, perform and direct for local independent theatre and opera companies, and make the occasional short film or TV commercial. I'm writing my doctoral thesis at UQ ("Towards a Theory of the Performing Voice"), I travel regularly to the USA and UK to visit my two sons, and to attend conferences.

Life is good - and getting better all the time.

The Longer Version
My approach to actor training has been influenced by some of the world’s foremost voice and theatre practitioners, including Valerii Galendiev of The Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg (Russia), Anna Petrova of the Moscow Art Theatre School (Russia), Shauna Kanter (USA), Krszysztov Miklasewski (Poland), Frankie Armstrong, John Wright (England), Harriet Buchan (Scotland), Marcia McCallum (Australia), Ira Seidenstein (USA/Australia) and Catherine Fitzmaurice (USA)

I am an Australian actor, singer, writer, director, and voice coach who has trained and worked in Australia, UK, USA, Nigeria, New Zealand and Russia. As well as performing in cabaret and satirical revues, I toured folk clubs in England and Scotland, helped to run the Singers’ Club and the Croydon Come All Ye in London at the height of the folk revival, and the Ceilidh Grill in Tiree, Scotland (I was also the chef).

While based in Scotland, I raised two sons, ran drama workshops for the Port Glasgow Association of Tenants’ Groups, performed street theatre, cabaret and fringe theatre, was lead vocalist with The Black Diamonds Havana Band (trad jazz) and Chorde en Bleu (modern jazz). After three years as deputy wardrobe mistress for the King’s Theatre, Glasgow, I returned to her performing career, touring Scotland with Annexe Theatre, Shared Boat, Cahoots and several one-woman plays under the auspices of the Scottish Arts Council. I established Performance Exchange, coordinating workshops and inter-disciplinary skills training for theatre practitioners in Scotland, and was founding Artistic Director of Golden Age Theatre (Glasgow), directing and performing in classic and contemporary plays, touring to festivals, theatres, schools and community halls (with workshops) around Scotland. I was invited o join the collaborative ensemble VoiceTheatre NY during their residency at the Columbia (Maryland, USA) Festival 1992, before visiting Russia to train with the Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg.

Since returning to Australia in 1997, I have directed opera and theatre productions (professional, student and youth theatre), including Madame Butterfly for the 4MBS Festival of Fine Music, and A Life in the Theatre for Trocadero Productions. I regularly perform with independent theatre and film companies. In the late 1990s I ran an ensemble company Off The Planet which performed mask and physical street theatre in national parks, banqueting halls and on street corners. My musical play Blame it on Your Mother was first performed in Scotland by The Wicked Ladies, then by The Girls at the Empire Church Theatre, Toowoomba and at Metro Arts, Brisbane. My latest play, The Fall of June Bloom: A Modern Invocation has been presented at works-in-progress at the Magdalena Brisbane Easter Gathering 2008, the ADSA conference in Dunedin, NZ in July 2008, Performing the World in New York in October 2008, and the VASTA conference in New York in August, 2009. The international cast will join me for the Brisbane in 2010.
stills from VASTA June Bloom 1326

Flloyd (June) with Micha Espinosa (Kate) and John Graham (Jerome) at the VASTA "Original Voices" conference, PACE University, New York.
I enjoy sharing my experience with student and professional actors, professional men and women, community groups and youth theatres. I also perform with independent theatre and film companies, here and abroad.
I have been in private practice for twenty-three years, as well as teaching at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Coatbridge College, Langside College, Queensland University of Technology, Australian Catholic University, Rutgers University and the University of Otago.