The Brogue

From Joanna, Communications Manager

The Irish accents in The Seafarer aren't your typical Irish brogue, and that might be confusing (it certainly baffled the Seattle Weekly's reviewer). Here's an excerpt from a conversation with the show's dialect coach, Deb Hecht, on why The Seafarer won't have you thinking, "Lucky Charms."

Seattle Rep: Are there special challenges in The Seafarer that make this project especially interesting for you?

Deb Hecht: Yes. It’s actually a more unusual Irish accent than I’ve ever done before, and that we’re used to hearing. I think that when we think of an Irish accent, we think of something that’s a little—oh, I don’t want to say “Lucky Charms”—but sounds that are actually more associated with the west coast of Ireland. Those sounds are very different from the city of Dublin, and The Seafarer is in a very particular neighborhood, Baldoyle, which is on the north side of Dublin. It has a slightly different sound. It’s not as tight as the city of Dublin is itself. It’s a challenge. Some of it is quite close to American speech in a lot of ways, but it’s just different enough. I was saying to one of the actors that I feel like I’m standing on one of those things that clowns stand on–those Rola-Bolas—because it feels neither fish nor fowl. It’s not American, but it’s not the Irish we’re used to doing. It’s more relaxed than Dublin, so finding this can be tricky.

Continue reading the interview here.