Eric Armstrong

Eric

he/him

Eric Armstrong works as an accent/dialect/language coach for theatre, film, television and gaming. He also teaches voice, speech, dialects/accents, and text in the BFA program at York University in Toronto, Canada, where he is currently serving as Chair.

Eric holds a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal, and an MFA from York University, as well as a diploma from The Drama Studio, London UK, and a certification from The International Commedia Dell'Arte Training Workshop, in Reggio Emilio, Italy. He is also a certified teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork. He trained under David Smukler both at York and at Canada's National Voice Intensive, where he went on to be a full-time faculty member. He has taught full-time at university programs for over thirty years in Toronto, Windsor, Boston and Chicago.

His Professional dialect coaching/design for theatre includes work for Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Volcano Theatre, Canadian Stage, Crow's Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Soulpepper, Steppenwolf and Court Theatre; coaching for film and television highlights include designing the Belter accents for Seasons 1-3 & 5-6 of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Expanse,” as well as coaching Iain Glenn for Netflix’s “Titans,” Michelle Williams and Sarah Silverman for Sarah Polley's feature film “Take This Waltz,” and many others.

He is a former director and board member of VASTA, and was honored with the VASTA Leadership and Service award in 2006, and received the 2020 Dudley Knight Award for the article “Accent and Language Training for the Indigenous Performer: Results of Four Focus Groups”. He has presented countless times at the annual VASTA conference; he has frequently focused on accent resources for under-represented groups, most notably Indigenous Accents in two presentations with his co-investigator, Shannon Vickers; Jamaican for a panel on Accents of the African Diaspora; Tamil as part of the panel on South Asian Accents; Iceland for a panel on Scandinavian Accents; and Japanese for the panel on Asian Accents. He has published numerous articles and reviews in the Voice and Speech Review. His broad research/teaching/creative interests lie in the intersection of teaching and technology, and he has used web-based technologies extensively to support his work. He has written a blog on voice training for the actor at voiceguy.ca and was cohost, with Phil Thompson, of the podcast Glossonomia, conversations on the sounds of speech. His Open Educational Resource (eBook) "Lexical Sets for Actors" is available online for free at bit.ly/lexsets4actors.

York University

Full Professor

MFA Theatre (Acting), York University 1994; BFA Theatre (Specialization Performance) 1986

Voice Teacher Program, York University (1994)

1:1 Coaching

Open to Mentoring a VASTA member

Pedagogy

Shakespeare

Speech & Dialects

VASTA, NVA, ACTRA, CAEA.

York University 2003-present
Roosevelt University 1999-2003
Brandeis University 1997-1999
University of Windsor 1995-1997

Accent/Dialect/Language Coach for Theatre, Film, Television, Games 1994-present

Armstrong, Eric, "Lexical Sets for Actors," eCampusOntario.
https://bit.ly/lexsets4actors

Armstrong, Eric, Shannon Vickers, Katie German, Elan Marchinko, “Accent and Language Training for the Indigenous Performer: Results of Four Focus Groups,” Voice and Speech Review, Rockford Sansom, editor, Taylor & Francis, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2020.1727640

Armstrong, Eric “The Shakespeare Workbook and Video,” Voice and Speech Review, Rockford Sansom, editor, Taylor & Francis, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2017.1370806

Armstrong, Eric “Efficacy in Phonetics Training for the Actor,” Voice and Speech Review, Jeff Morrison, editor, Taylor & Francis, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2017.1282676

Stoller, Amy, Eric Armstrong, Kim James Bey, Doug Honorof, Adrienne Moore, “Speech stereotypes: good vs. evil,” Voice and Speech Review, Jeff Morrison, editor, Taylor & Francis, 2017, p. 78-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2013.826077

Armstrong, Eric, “Compelling Honesty: Searching for Authenticity in the Voice of Nina Arsenault” in TRANS(per)FORMING Nina Arsenault, Judith Rudakoff, editor, Intellect Press, Bristol UK, 2012, p. 149 - 163. ISBN: 9781841505718

Armstrong, Eric “Embodying Meter,” Voice and Movement, and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training presented by the Voice and Speech Review, Rena Cook, editor, University Readers, July 2009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2009.10767575

Armstrong, Eric, & Meier, Paul, “R and Its Articulation,” Shakespeare Around the Globe and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training presented by the Voice and Speech Review, Mandy Rees, editor, Applause Books, August 2005, p. 237-250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2005.10739476

Armstrong, Eric, “Hybrid Dialects,” Shakespeare Around the Globe and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training presented by the Voice and Speech Review, Mandy Rees, editor, Applause Books, August 2005, p. 251-260. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2005.10739477

–––, “IS THIS NORMAL?: A Theatre Coach Works in Film,” Film, Broadcast and E-Media Coaching and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training presented by the Voice and Speech Review, Rocco Dal Vera, editor, Applause Books, August 2003, p. 33-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2003.10739375

Rootberg, Ruth (moderator), Adaire, C., Adrian, B., Armstrong, E., Barnes, M., Gilman, M. Heirich, J., Howland, M., Margolis, E., Munro, M., Olson, L., Timberlake, P., Watson, L., “Clavicular Breathing, Held Shoulders and Related Issues: Round Table Discussion,” Film, Broadcast and E-Media Coaching and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training presented by the Voice and Speech Review, Rocco Dal Vera, editor, Applause Books, August 2003, p. 278-295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2003.10739415

Armstrong, Eric, “EARNING THE ROLE: The Company Voice Coach, An Interview with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Andrew Wade,” The Voice in Violence and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training presented by the Voice and Speech Review, Rocco Dal Vera, editor, Applause Books, August 2001, p. 148-154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2001.10761462

–––, “Vowel Slide/Glide,” The Complete Voice and Speech Workout Book (and CD), Janet Rodgers, editor, Applause Books, 2001, p. 43-48. ISBN: 9781557834980

Established

Academia

Theatrical Coaching

Film/TV Coaching

Private Coaching

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1338164/

https://voiceguy.ca