Romeo from Romeo and Juliet Act 2, Scene 2 performed by Jess Chambers 

This week on Speak The Speech, we are joined by voice, dialect and text coach Jess Chambers. In this episode, Jess discusses what drew her to voice and text coaching, what it’s like to prepare a company of actors vocally to perform in different circumstances, her work with children on Matilda the Musical, how studying speech pathology informs her practice, and her best pieces of advice for vocalising Shakespeare.  

Jess Chambers works internationally as a voice, dialect and text coach. For Bell Shakespeare she has been the voice coach on over a dozen productions including Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Miser and Richard III.  

Her other voice coaching credits include Matilda the Musical in Australia and London, Alice In Wonderland, Sweet Charity, and Pygmalion for The Shaw Festival Theatre in Canada, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Real Thing and How To Rule The World for Sydney Theatre Company. 

She was dialect coach on Moulin Rouge! The Musical, School of Rock, Jersey Boys, Les Miserables and The Sound Of Music. Her screen credits include Frayed and The Unlisted for the ABC, and the film Hacksaw Ridge.