The Nova Scotia High School Drama Festival

Intro to the Speaking Voice

with Sherry Smith

When you know how your voice works, you can engage the different components to achieve maximum use of your voice, safely. This is not just useful for stage purposes but also to be clearly understood when wearing a mask, presentations in class, and being present and heard in conversations. Sherry will guide your class through various exercises that help to warm up each component, strengthening your voice, expanding your breath capacity, reducing anxiety, and promoting relaxation and tension release. Finally, she will discuss some ways to keep the voice healthy, and some tips on what to do when experiencing a sore throat or vocal strain.

All DramaFest Workshops have limited availability. Availability may also be limited due to bookings by other classes.

  • Students will use drama to explore, formulate, and express ideas, perceptions, and feelings. 
  • Students will demonstrate personal growth through drama. 

Sherry Smith graduated from the National Theatre School in 1980. She has worked in many theatres across the country from coast to coast, including seven seasons at The Shaw Festival. She was co-founder of LunaSea Theatre Company in Halifax and worked as producer, writer, actor and director with them for five years. In 2009 she won a Best Actress Merritt Award for her performance as Winnie in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days at Neptune Theatre. She has performed multiple times at Neptune, most recently in Pleasureville – a performance for which she recieved her 5th Merritt Award nomination. On film & television, Sherry has acted opposite Rob Lowe, Tom Selleck, Bruce Greenwood, Sarah Paulson, Alfrie Woodard and the wonderful John Dunsworth. She was the on-set dialect coach for the Netflix series, The Mist. She is a wife, and a mom to three grown children.

  1.  Students remain seated throughout this workshop.

Book now

Please note: Theatre Nova Scotia respectfully requests that schools and community groups ideally do not cancel workshops once they are booked, unless absolutely necessary. If a group must cancel or reschedule, please give us a week of prior notice. In these precarious days for arts workers, TNS is going to great lengths to provide schools with exceptional theatre education and local artists with paid work in our industry. Please be aware that artists may have turned down other paid work to accommodate these workshop bookings. Thank you for your understanding.

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions. 

Students stay seated throughout this workshop.