Latest news with #BettyBoothroyd
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Microphones and Betty Boothroyd-style projection are both useful tools for actors
The increasing use of microphones on stage ('We can hear their saliva': why are so many actors suddenly using microphones?, 4 August) has prompted more astute producers and theatres to transform their audiences' engagement. When a sound operator sends the signal from a mic directly through the loop system, anyone using hearing aids or the theatre's own headphones gets a degree of clarity that is unequalled. Along with captioning, this is a lifeline for millions who attend theatre. I know it goes against the grain for old stagers who hold that unenhanced 'shouting at night' is the purest form of theatre, but those with some degree of hearing loss – one in three of the UK population – will tell you a different LeeLeigh-on-Sea, Essex Emma John mentions a veteran actor who trained his voice to fill large spaces and refuses to use a microphone. This reminded me of an Open University awards ceremony many years ago. The microphone went down and my colleague announcing the graduands was told by Betty Boothroyd, in her best Speaker's voice, to project! A lovely WaltersBuxton, Derbyshire Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Times
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Times
The Rev Canon Donald Gray obituary: campaigner for liturgical reform
The solemnity of the Speaker's procession, heralding another day of business in the House of Commons, was perennially interrupted by a squeak. Mice had long been a problem in the Palace of Westminster, but the furry critters had not decided to join the forthcoming debates. In fact the noise was emanating from the shoes of the Rev Canon Donald Gray, the chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons and otherwise known by MPs as 'Squeaky'. Resplendent in black silk cassock with white gloves, and in keeping with a tradition that dated back to the Restoration in 1660, Gray would lead prayers for five minutes before the rough and tumble began in earnest. A genial man with an earthy Lancastrian wit, he took in good part his nickname; squeaking aside, he went about his pastoral business quietly having been appointed by the Speaker Bernard Weatherill in 1987 and serving under Betty Boothroyd until 1998.
