Accents on stage: when and why to use them

Accents are an important aspect of the actor’s arsenal but when is it time to fire with both barrels versus declaring a ceasefire?
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MTC Assistant Director and Voice and Dialect Coach Leith McPherson with actor Ian Meadows on the set of the The Weir. Photo by Pam Kleemann.

If your intention is to honour a play and its author as well as the world in which it’s set, accents are essential, according to actor Ngaire Dawn Fair.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts