Louisa

What's a brief synopsis of your research project?

I am investigating the impact of performed emotion on musical theatre singers. My exploration will lead to the development of strategies for working with pre-professional musical theatre performers to support their vocal health and emotional wellbeing. I am working with vocal health research, theories of emotion, neuroscience, and psychology to better understand the experience and impact of performing high intensity negative valence emotions. The final phase of my research involves a participatory action research project with musical theatre students. The ultimate goal of the work is to develop real-world strategies that could be implemented in performer training.

Why did you choose to study at Surrey for your PhD?

Having previously worked as an associate technical singing teacher at the Guildford School of Acting at Surrey, I was confident that it was the right choice for me. The musical theatre training is world-class, and I wanted my research to be grounded in an institution that would understand the practicalities and demands of performer training.

Why are you passionate about your area of research?

In my years as a voice and performance coach, I have worked with many pre-professional musical theatre actors who have struggled with balancing the extreme demands of musical theatre vocal performance with high intensity acted emotion. As a voice pedagogy lecturer supervising coaches working within the same industry, I also hear similar concerns echoed across different coaches in multiple performing arts institutions. 

I hope to be able to build our understanding of what it is we are asking our young performers to put themselves through, and to find practical ways to support them.

Have you had opportunities to collaborate with others during your PhD?

Having conducted most of my PhD from a distance I am rarely able to visit campus, so collaboration with other PhD candidates is not easy. However, I was able to present at the Theatrical Voice Research Centre Conference at Surrey last summer, which was a fantastic opportunity to meet voice researchers and hear about their work.

What support have you had?

It is incredibly valuable to have people on my supervisory team who are working with musical theatre students on a day-to-day basis, giving them direct insight to the challenges faced by the type of students my research aims to support. 

I have also been able to take part in a number of the mini virtual writing retreats put on by the doctoral college. I find these highly motivating and supportive as someone working part-time from a distance.

What do you plan to do once you've finished your PhD?

I hope to continue building on my findings, developing a book and a course to bridge the research directly into practice.