Valerie Smith performs Queen Margaret’s monologue from Henry VI, Part III, a play by William Shakespeare.
Valerie Smith is new to voiceover and thoroughly enjoying the journey so far. Observing people has always fascinated her. Getting to know characters and backstories helps her to do her best to honor the characters and the intention of the writers.In addition to her acupuncture practice of 20 years, she has taught Chinese medicine for 18 years.
One of the many things she loves about Wren’s classes is that she always comes away with so much ~ it may be new information related to the practice of voice over and acting or a new perspective on an interpretation of a piece…and getting to collaborate with a really cool and diverse group of people is the frosting on the cake.
From Valerie: “Practicing Shakespeare with Wren was such a powerful experience. At Wren’s suggestion I chose a Queen Margaret monologue because I thought it would challenge me to step outside my comfort zone and begin to grow my acting chops.
The whole process of developing the character ~ diving into Margaret’s motivation, experiencing her emotion and creating a relationship with her was both exhilarating and intimidating. With Wren’s guidance ‘Maggie’, as I thought of her 🙂 really came alive in the raging fierceness that hid the depth of her pain at her son’s death and anger at the impending loss of the kingdom that held she had controlled for so long.
Going into the experience I felt some trepidation. But Wren set a tone that encouraged experimentation and play and the class became so much fun that I left with a feeling of accomplishment, pride…and new friends.”