Faye Rigopoulou
Telephone: (0030)6951800793
College: College of Humanities
Discipline: Drama
Department: Department of Communications, Drama and FIlm
My current research focuses on ageing female vocalities in mid-20th- and early 21st-century Western Anglophone musical theatre. My PhD has proposed the conceptual framework of the ageing female voice as pharmakon in musicals and a taxonomy of such pharmaka, designed to facilitate a deeper comprehension of how the ageing female voice has been presented as an aural/bodily condition of undecidability in the dramaturgies of such characters.
I am co-convening TaPRA's working group 'Sound, Voice & Music' and I am the representative for the South West of the Mercury Musical Developments organisation (MMD). I am a member of IFTR (International Federation of Theatre Research), IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music), ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts), and the co-founder of the Performing Practices Working Group (PPWG). I'm also a member of the Voice, Sound & Music Cluster, and a member of the Centre for Performance Histories and Cultures at the University of Exeter, (https://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/drama/research/centres/performancehistoriescultures/) as well as a member of the Centre for Contemporary Performance Practices. (https://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/drama/research/centres/contemporaryperformancepractices/).
I have an MA (Distinction, 2017) in Professional Practice (Musical Theatre) (Middlesex University). My research focused on performers education in musical theatre, cross-cultural communication and emotional expression, and musical theatre pedagogies in South East Asia. I have attended the BA programme in Musicology at the Aristoteleion University of Thessaloniki with focus on Pedagogy (1992-1995).
Some of my other formal qualifications include a Piano Virtuosity Diploma (2006, awarded with Distinction), a Harmony Diploma (2003, awarded with Distinction), a Woodwind and Brass Instrumentation Diploma (2003, awarded with Dinstinction), and an Audio Engineering Diploma (2010, SAE Institute, Athens). I have received training in Stanislavski's System, and training on advanced characterisation (Laban movement). I have trained at the Academy of Russian Ballet (A. Petrova) in Greece (classical ballet) and at the National Conservatoire of Athens (piano virtuosity, voice, and composition). I have been awarded a scholarship from the European Community for Arts and Music to attend Masterclasses with Julia and Konstantin Ganev (Piano Virtuosity) and Dr Alexander Raichev (Music Composition). I have also a Diploma on Byzantine monody sight reading (National Conservatoire Manolis Kalomiris, 1990).
I have had an active career in acting, and performing in musical theatre as well as a long service in directing musical theatre (Greece, Taiwan). I have taught musical theatre since 2004, and between the years 2010 and 2018 I taught musical theatre acting and voice in Taiwan, and designed a performing arts curriculum working for the TW Ministry of Education. I have received the 'Award of Excellent Performance' by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan (18.09.2017) and have facilitated workshops on musical theatre for performers and performing arts educators.
In 2021 I convened, lead and lectured the module 'Voices Across Stage and Screen' (DRA2096), (inspired and originated by Dr Konstantinos Thomaidis). I have taught Greek ancient chorus for the module 'Voice for the Actor' (DRA2086) and I have supervised 'Acting and Directing' (DRA3030) and 'Staging the Text' (DRA2067). I have lead seminars and workshops for the modules: 'Practitioners in Context' (DRA1009) and 'Performance and Interpretation' (DRA2064). I am an active member of the Widening Participation programme of the University of Exeter leading workshops for Drama Scholars on Improvisation and Devising Musical Theatre (01/2019, 03/2019. 07/2019, 02/2020).
I have received the Cawthra fund for the academic years 2018-2020 and the Sir Richard Stapley grant for the academic year 2021-2022.
Publications:
2022: Journal of Inderdiscplinary Voice Studies 7(2): 219-228:
'The sound of age in musical theatre: A conversation with musical theatre's ageing female performers.
https://doi.org/10.1386/jivs_00066_1
2020: Academic Journal Skene - Aristoteleion University of Salonica, Greece, Vol 12:
'Επιστροφή από το μακριά, από το πάντα, και από το χωρίς: «Μεγαλύτερες» γυναίκες στο musical theatre'
2019: Theatre, Dance, and Performance Training Blog (TDPT): 'Where is the vocal training ageing female musical theatre performers?' (12/2019)
Book Reviews:
Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies 6(2) pp.225-228
Intellect Limites 2021 https://doi.org/10.1386/jivs_00049_5
On press:
2023: Studies In Musical Theatre: 'Pick a Pocket or Two. A History of British Musical Theatre by Ethan Mordden (2021). Review
2024: ‘Η Φωνή της Γυναίκας Μεγαλύτερης Ηλικίας στο Musical Theatre’ στο: Εγχειρίδιο Εθνικού Θεάτρου, τόμος: Η Σύγχρονη Φωνητική και Μουσική Εκπαίδευση του Ηθοποιού (Κεφάλαιο). (trans: ‘The Ageing Female Voice in Musical Theatre’ in Contemporary Vocal and Music Trainings of the Actor, National Greek Theatre).
Forthcoming:
2024: ‘Still Here? Ageing Female Vocalities in Musical Theatre’, IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music) Journal Special Issue.
