Draft:Lyn Kidd

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Lyn Kidd
Born
Brisbane, Australia
Occupation(s)Speech and Drama Teacher

Voice and Acting Teacher Proprietor/Owner

Author
Years active1975–present
Known forActing Technique The Psychology of Character

Founder The Actors Workshop

Author The Jungle of Sounds
ChildrenJoshua Layton Kidd

Lyn Kidd is an Australian teacher of acting, voice and character technique. Author of The Jungle of Sounds, Kidd is also the founder and principal of The Actors Workshop, in Brisbane Australia.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Early life[edit]

Kidd was born in Brisbane and spent her childhood years in Gladstone. Her primary education was at the Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School,[9] while she attended secondary education as a boarder at The Range Convent and High School, Rockhampton.[10] 

Kidd spent her remaining teen and early adult years in Sydney, Australia.[citation needed] There she experienced a serious motorcycle accident leaving her bedridden. She was nursed by her sister Gail who was a hairdresser in Double Bay, Sydney. One of Gail’s clients was speech and drama teacher Dorothy Goldie who, upon hearing of Kidd’s accident offered a selection of her personal literature favourites while she recovered. To her surprise Kidd had difficulty reading due to her dyslexia. Goldie introduced her to phonetics which changed her life. After an arduous two years recovery Kidd was again able to walk.[citation needed]

Education[edit]

From 1975 to 1980 Kidd attended private classes with Dorothy Goldie[1] at Bellevue Hill, Sydney. Sitting for her exams through the Australian Music Examinations Board, she fulfilled requirements for an Associate Diploma of Speech and Drama.[7] During this time Kidd discovered a passion for teaching and subsequently taught children speech and drama at various schools around Sydney.[11]

During June of 1976 Kidd happened to enter a wrong room whilst visiting the Bondi Pavilion Theatre, Sydney. Inside a six-week workshop was being conducted by American Acting Teacher Stella Adler. Embarrassed that she had interrupted the proceedings Kidd slid into the back row of an unoccupied seat and witnessed Stella workshopping prominent actors and directors. This singular experience was a defining event for Kidd and the inspiration for seeking out Australian teachers that taught the Stella Adler technique, itself an interpretation of Stanislavski’s System.[12] The workshop had been organised by the Peter Summerton Foundation [13] and one of its organisers Jone Winchester took Kidd aside, respectfully reprimanded her presence and explained it was a private event. Kidd apologised and left, unaware that several years later this figure would become her next mentor in life.

In 1980 Cleo magazine's fashion editor Rosena O’Casey[14] and her then assistant Deborah Franco [15] [16] informed Kidd about Jone Winchester (also known as Joan Winchester)[17] and Brian Syron running masterclasses in Stella Adler technique. Upon meeting them, Jone quite precisely recognised Kidd from years earlier. Thus, Kidd trained in the Stella Adler Technique from 1981 under the tutelage of Jone Winchester [18] and Brian Syron at The Actors Masterclass, Edgecliff, Sydney. [19][7] [1] She then continued for a further two years at the Spare Parts Studio privately with Jone Winchester. [20] [21] [22] [23]

Jone Winchester was President and founding member of the Peter Summerton Foundation.[24] It was formed to help and promote cultural growth for Australian actors and especially, directors. [25] [26] To its board members she recommended Kidd and fellow student, (now Australian photographer) Jane Burton Taylor [27] be awarded scholarships in 1982 and 1983 as assistant teachers to international master teacher and director Yevgeny Lanskoy.[28] [29] [30][1]

In 1984, Kidd was again awarded the Peter Summerton Foundation Scholarship to be assistant teacher to Rowena Balos, master teacher in voice and speech from the United States of America.[31][7][32] [33] Kidd and Balos continued their working relationship and friendship up until Rowena’s death in November 2018.[1] In 1985, Kidd was awarded the Kerry Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting Film Company Ltd (PBL) scholarship to study film and television technique in Sydney with film and television teachers/actors Rae Allen and Bibi Besch. [34] During this time Kidd taught private classes with actors and conducted further acting workshops for children, as well as supporting herself through still photography work and TVCs.

The Jungle of Sounds[edit]

Whilst in Sydney, Kidd decided to write an educational book for children shaped by her experience with dyslexia. Her idea was to incorporate Australian animal vocalisations for the pronunciation of each consonant sound. To pursue researching her book Kidd boldly decided to leave Sydney for Natural Bridge in the Numinbah Valley bordering the state lines of Queensland and New South Wales. Thus between 1988-1990 she studied birds and bird sounds with the assistance and guidance of Peter Lehmann, ranger at the National Parks and Wildlife Services Queensland.[1]

Meanwhile Rowena Balos travelled to Australia yearly conducting vocal workshops. Each year Kidd would receive Rowena as her guest in between workshops thus she become familiar with Kidd’s book concept and research. It was after completing her research into each consonant and corresponding bird sound that Rowena suggested that the combination of both their experiences would benefit its co-writing. Thus, Kidd traveled to America in 1991 where she co-wrote with Rowena whilst teaching voice, breathing and relaxation techniques at Rowena Balos’ Studio in West Hollywood.

Kidd returned to Australia to begin preparations for opening her own acting school. Over the following two years, Kidd and Rowena continued drafting and subsequently, The Jungle of Sounds - A Journey Through The Magic of Language was published in 1997 by Antipodean Educational Press.[35][1][7]

The Psychology of Character[edit]

Kidd created The Psychology of Character as an acting technique whilst living at Natural Bridge researching The Jungle of Sounds. Over a period of three years Kidd attended therapy class with intent of learning about herself and exploring the aspects of human character. What become apparent from the sessions was the understanding and development of character which could be utilised by actors.  

The Psychology of Character as an acting technique laid the foundation of core teachings for The Actors Workshop, which she opened in 1994 with co-founder Michael Caton. In 1999, the course curriculum of The Actors Workshop was accredited through the Australian Qualifications Framework as an Advanced Diploma of Film, Television and Theatre Acting.[36]

Awards[edit]

Kidd has been an international guest teacher to both the Philippines and the Solomon Islands and has worked extensively with the Queensland community sector.

Year Title Notes
2003 Community Service Award Presented by Queensland Emergency Services Commissioner, in recognition of Excellence through Education and contributions made to the assessment strategies of community training organisations of Queensland Ambulance's QAS Education Centre.[7]
2004 Kinetone Award Presented by Anna Bligh then, Queensland Education and Arts Minister at the 18th Annual Warner Roadshow Studios Queensland New Film Makers Award in recognition of significant contribution to film and television in Queensland particularly with the mentoring of young filmmakers. First female recipient.[37] [38] [7]
2009 Media Mates Award Contribution to Southside TAFE Screen and Media School.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Balos, Rowena; Kidd, Lyn (1997). The Jungle of Sounds : A Journey Through The Magic of Language. Sydney: Antipodean Educational Enterprises. pp. 1–5. ISBN 1-876223-06-5.[unreliable source?]
  2. ^ Renić 2008 " Lyn Kidd, jedna od najboljih profesorica glume i dikcije u Australiji. (Lyn Kidd, one of Australia's best acting and voice teachers).“
  3. ^ [https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/198149 National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ McLean 2004 "Kidd, principal and founder of The Actors Workshop in Brisbane.”
  5. ^ Stewart 1995 "Brisbane-based acting teacher Lyn Kidd, who with partner Michael Caton - of The Sullivans fame - is helping local performers take a big bite out of south-east Queensland’s plumping acting pie."
  6. ^ Bentley 2015Michael Caton: "So finally, happy 20th anniversary, for The Actors Workshop, and good on you Lyn, you always said, “This is what you wanted to do.” And you did it mate. You did it. And you did it so well."
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Doran, Robert (2015). The Actors Workshop Prospectus Version 12 - 04/08/2015. Brisbane: The Actors Workshop. p. 1-4.[unreliable source?]
  8. ^ Anon 2023 "Rob Doran trained with Australian master teacher Lyn Kidd from 1994 to 1996 to teach and direct her acting technique, the Psychology of Character."
  9. ^ http://www.staroftheseagladstone.qld.edu.au/
  10. ^ Anon 2016 "Originally from Gladstone, [Lyn Kidd] from Brisbane’s ‘The Acting Workshop’ will return home bringing 20 years of experience with her."
  11. ^ McLean 2004 "Kidd’s connection with the enthusiastic students isn’t surprising, considering her life was changed by an intense desire to educate herself. She has always been a gifted teacher, having worked originally with the Australian Musical Education Board in Sydney. “After a few years of this I wanted more,” she says."
  12. ^ McLean 2004 "It was the late 1970s and a chance discovery of a workshop with American acting teacher Stella Adler sent her in search of similar teachers in Australia."
  13. ^ Anon 1975 "The Peter Summerton Foundation announced plans recently to bring teacher Stella Adler back to Australia in June to give a series of professional classes to actors. Miss Adler visited Australia in 1974 and ever since members of the profession have been demanding more stimulation from this dynamic American. The classes will be held over 6 weeks in June/July. Scene classes (limit 30) will cost $150 for the course, technique classes (limit 30) $100. Apply immediately."
  14. ^ Sams 2022 Ita Buttrose (Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation): “We met in the ’70s. She launched her first boutique around the same time we launched Cleo magazine. I remember my fashion editor, Rosina O’Casey, coming in, saying, ‘I’ve found a new designer, she’s fabulous, her name is Carla Zampatti.’ And we all loved it from the beginning."
  15. ^ "'She is a national treasure, and everybody should know her'". 3 October 2021.
  16. ^ Anon 2024 "Deborah Franco ... Currency Press is Australia’s foremost publisher of the performing arts and its oldest active independent publisher"
  17. ^ Winchester 1973 "Winchester speaks of her association with the Peter Summerton Foundation; about her early interest in the theatre and her admission to the Metropolitan Theatre classes; the various stage roles she has played.”
  18. ^ "Joan Winchester | Actress". IMDb.
  19. ^ McLean 2004 "[in search of similar teachers in Australia]... She found Jone Winchester and Brian Syron. It was Winchester, however, who instilled in Kidd a sense of artistic morals."
  20. ^ Anon 1984 "The Group, Spare Parts Theatre, was originally formed as Sparta Parts Studio to hone and maintain their acting skills under the tuition of Jone Winchester.”
  21. ^ McLean 2004 "A straight-talking single mother, who worked in a Kings Cross, Sydney, bar as a waitress to support her drama studies."
  22. ^ Bentley 2015 "Michael Caton: “And I don’t know if you realise how really well qualified Lyn really is? She studied the Stella Adler method both here and overseas and is incredibly well qualified. She hides all this under a camouflage of Aussie-ness.””
  23. ^ Stewart 1995 "While Kidd has trained in the techniques of legendary teaching doyenne Stella Adler and Stanislavsky, young students such as Luisa Sanzone say just as important is the sense of self-confidence Kidd instils. “Having someone that believes in you and criticises you only in a way so that you will make the most of yourself makes a big difference,” Stanton says."
  24. ^ Wales 1974 " "… if we could only get a Zeffirelli or a Peter Brook out here - even for two or three, or better still, for four weeks - it would do more good than twenty Australians going overseas for a year a piece…” - Peter Summerton... When Peter Summerton died suddenly while adjudicating a drama festival in Queensland, while still in his forties, it was a great shock to the Australian theatre. Known and loved throughout the profession, Peter Summerton had built for himself over the previous years the reputation of being one of Australia’s leading directors...After his death, several members of the profession met together to form a committee aiming to carry on Peter’s inspiration and dedication. The Peter Summerton Foundation is dedicated specifically to fulfilling a dream of Peter’s — to help stem the drain overseas of Australia’s theatrical talent by bringing overseas teachers and directors to Australia for master classes and workshops.”
  25. ^ Kott 1977 “The Peter Summerton Foundation has been going for seven years now; it was formed by a group of Peter’s friends when he died. He was a director, and so our primary aim is to help directors, and as many directors as possible. There was a lot of discussion about the best way to do this. We thought of overseas scholarships, but in fact we have a tape of Peter saying that can only help one person, who might not come back anyway, while bringing someone in can affect far more people. The original plan was to have a directors’ workshop once every two years, but it’s turned out to be more: William Ball in 1971; Stella Adler in 1973; Bill Gaskell in 1975; and Michael Blakemore in 1976. “I think this year Alan Schneider has a very special contribution to make because he is a teacher — a lecturer — as well as a director. Michael Blakemore was very reluctant to teach. Alan is doing 10 short Beckett scenes — one entirely mimed — and he is a Beckett expert....The Tote has very kindly helped us to pay for the workshop by giving us a preview night of Big Toys where the actors and everyone involved have donated their services, for which we sell tickets. The Australia Council and the Wran Government have supported us minimally."
  26. ^ Winchester 1973 Time stamp, Tape Reel One:  00.00.00 - 00.13min14sec, Joan Winchester: "At present, I am the president and the founder of the Peter Summerton foundation. This is a foundation to help and promote the cultural growth as far as directors are concerned in Australia. And it’s in memory of one of my greatest and dearest friends, Peter Summerton, who was one of our bright young directors here and died some three and a half, four years ago at the age of forty. We got together some of the artists, writers directors, of Sydney who felt sad about Peter dying and we formed a living memory to him, and we hoped to perpetuate his memory in this way,… it was one of his desires to have workshops like this in Australia by, some of the greatest overseas, to help stimulate the young people who are going into theatre on the direction side. And so we decided to have his wish become or dream become an actuality.”
  27. ^ http://www.janeburtontaylor.com.au/
  28. ^ Anon 1982 "THE Russian director, Yevgeny Lanskoy, will be arriving in Sydney this Saturday to hold two months of master workshops in acting, writing and directing for theatre and film. He is being brought to Australia by the Peter Summerton Foundation, which has previously introduced such distinguished people as Michael Blakemore. Stella Adler and Alan Schnieder. Yevgeny Lanskoy' visit will have the added interest of some rare contact between the Australian and Russian theatres. Although he has been in America for the past two and a half years, he has had 12 years of professional experience as actor, director, writer and teacher in the Soviet Union. He is a Stanislavsky expert and has worked at the famous Moscow Art Theatre, home of such talents as Stanislavsky himself, Chekhov and Meyerhold.”
  29. ^ Anon 2019 "Invited to return to NIDA as a Guest Director, Egil was inspired to pass on his knowledge within an education setting. ‘In some ways, there was a tacit understanding in the profession at that time that you couldn’t really “teach” directing,’ he said. ‘My only key to acquiring a directing process at theatre school had been a two-week course led by visiting Russian actor and director, Yevgeny Lanskoy from the Maly theatre in Moscow. He brought with him an orthodox and Soviet view of Stanislavski’s system.’”
  30. ^ Anon 1983 "Following the tremendous response to the master workshops conducted by New York director Yevgeny Lanskoy in Sydney last year, the PETER SUMMERTON FOUNDATION has invited this distinguished Russian-born director back to Australia for another series of his popular workshops aimed at theatre professionals. The Foundation is calling for applications for the five week workshops which will be held in Sydney from June 6 and July 8. Enquiries on 321 5689. Cost of the workshops is $100. "
  31. ^ "Rowena Balos".
  32. ^ Stewart 1995 "Assisting American master teacher Rowena Balos, who has tutored at NIDA and leading Australian theatre companies, for six months in Los Angeles in 1991, Kidd observed that it wasn’t just young hopefuls getting coaching. “She works out with well-known actors all the time. They don’t just get there and forget about it, because then they have to be able to sustain what they’ve created.” Balos’ students have included Judy Davis, Joanne Woodward, Heather Locklear, Paul Reiser and Robyn Archer.”
  33. ^ McLean 2004 "Kidd has also honed her voice teaching skills by working with acclaimed American teacher Rowena Balos."
  34. ^ Anon 1985
  35. ^ [https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/198149 National Library of Australia.
  36. ^ Anon 2023 "ibid"
  37. ^ Partridge 2004 "The first woman to receive the annual award since its inception 1998....Prestigious Queensland film industry honours, the Kinetone Award...Received it from Education and Arts Minister Anna Bligh at the 18th Queensland New Filmmakers Awards at the Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank. Miss Bligh said The Actors’ Workshop at Woolloongabba had become a nationally renowned training centre for film and television actors. “Lyn is passionate about creating career paths and has helped many Queensland film makers meet and cast talented actors in films shot in and around Brisbane,” she said."
  38. ^ McLean 2004 "Last month, she was presented with the Kinetone Award at the annual Queensland New Filmmakers Awards, given in recognition of the significant contribution she has made to film and television in Queensland, particularly with the mentoring of young filmmakers. She was the first woman and the first educator to receive the award since it was introduced six years ago. Lyn Kidd, 53, says she was shocked to receive the Kinetone Award."
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