The Sharpe/Haydn Method
Working with an accent can be a dream or a nightmare. The pressures to get it right – to sound authentic, honest and connected – grow as audiences become more demanding and the world gets smaller. Speaking with an accent is a skill just like any other: it can be learned and developed, and it is our aim to provide you with the tools to do just that. Our books and workshop provide a simple, reassuring method for both learning and teaching accents: a method that allows people to use their natural intuition in tandem with their ability to retain structure; a method that liberates the nervous while developing the skills of the keen; and above all a method that teaches not just one accent, but the underlying structure inherent in all accents.
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Edda has been working as a voice and accent coach or over 25 years. In that time she has had the privilege of serving for 20 years as Voice and Dialect Associate for the Shaw Festival Theatre in Canada. She has provided dialect support for the Royal Shakespeare Company and countless theatre productions and companies across the UK, including Chichester Festival Theatre, Birmingham Rep, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Manchester Royal Exchange, Bath Theatre Royal, London Coliseum, Trafalgar Studios, and many more. Film work includes Far From The Madding Crowd, with Carey Mulligan, and The Door, with Helen Mirren. Edda has also taught extensively in theatre schools. She was head of voice at e15 Acting School and the principal dialect teacher on the MA Voice Studies course at Central School of Speech and Drama. She has provided accent coaching and training for Lamda, e15, GSA, Arts Educational, Mountview Theatre School and she continues to deliver masterclasses for Birmingham Conservatoire, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama among others. Edda is also a fully accredited NLP master practitioner and provides voice, personal impact and communication coaching to individuals and businesses in the public and private sectors. Clients include The Whitehall and Industry Group, RELX, Hiscox, Aviva, The Met Police, the M.O.D, Disney and CNN amongst others.
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Jan was Head of Voice and Dialect at Shakespeare's Globe from 2007-2010. She has provided Voice and Dialect coaching at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Almeida, the Donmar Warehouse, the Royal Court, the Manchester Royal Exchange, the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and the Salisbury Playhouse. Jan skills have also been employed on American and British films, radio and TV dramas, such as HBOs Game of Thrones and SKYs Treasure Island. She has provided accent coaching and teaching for Lamda, e15, Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, Central School of Speech and Drama, Syracuse University and Florida State University. She also works as a voice-over artist.