Ian Magilton

My work

A voice teacher since 1973, Ian Magilton works with his students to follow desire, through identification, imagination, and embodiment of life in every sense of the word.

“The Roy Hart vocal research is based on a belief that our voices are very much bigger than we think, certainly bigger than we normally use, and that there is a profound connection between our voice and our self, which is in turn very much bigger than we realise or normally admit to. The voice is more than sounds produced by the larynx and resonated in the head; the expression, the beauty and the quality that makes us want to listen comes from the body, the heart, the stomach, the genitals, even the knees, and from the soul.”

Born in Wakefield, England, Ian studied sculpture and painting at Sunderland and Chelsea Schools of Art before joining the Roy Hart Theatre in 1969. He is an  award-winning actor and theatre director, notably as recipient of an OBIE in 1985 for his production of the opera Pagliacci; the Prix Jean Vilar, Printemps des Comédiens in 1988; and Best Supporting Actor in 2003 for his role as Jack in And Mary Wept for Archipelago Theatre, Durham, North Carolina.

Ian has lived and worked internationally and is now based in France. He presented his findings on Imitation and Identity via the work of Roy Hart Theatre at the Stuttgart International Voice Week in 2005. His book Roy Hart Theatre at Malérargues was published in 2016.  

Imagi_nation is the name of the theatre production company that Ian founded to carry out research and to produce performances in the field of the human voice without borders. Imagi_nation’s first production was ZAUBER, an interpretation through the Roy Hart Theatre lens of Mozart’s opera ZAUBERflöte.

Ian speaks English, French, Norwegian and a little Italian.