| Dr. Evangeline Machlin was a beloved teacher and colleague
whose expertise in Speech for the Stage contributed to the success of many
of our students in the early years of the (then) Division of Theatre Arts.
"Van" came to B.U. after 20 years at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse,
and from 1960 to her retirement in 1972 continued to develop a methodology
for the teaching of speech and of dialects. During that period she
authored two widely used texts for actors. [Her strict discipline was
legendary, and she evidenced in her own work the dedication she expected
from students.] A strict disciplinarian, Van understood the fierce
competitiveness of a theatre career and an actor's need for technique as
well as talent. Discipline, personal responsibility, and
self-actualization -- these were the principles she advocated, her
intensity tempered by flashes of dry wit and by her sincere delight in
each student's accomplishment. The mechanics of speech were
counterbalanced by her love of poetry and its use as a tool throughout her
courses. Under her tutelage countless actors discovered the beauty of
language and formed a lifelong long of poetry, from the classics to the
contemporary. [Robert Frost was one of her favorites.] Believing that
technique must be tested and reinforced in performance, she developed a
number of projects to do just that, among them a performance-piece based
on the poems of Emily Dickinson and another, "Black Gold," a performance
by African-American theatre students of contemporary Black poetry. Both
"Emily" and "Black Gold" were broadcast on Public Television.
To acquaint students with the best of performance speech Van created a "Speech Library" in which recordings of plays of many styles and genres (Shakespeare, Shaw, Wilde, Coward, e.g. as well as American classics) were available for student "listening assignments." Her aim was to expose students to the greater possibilities of speech in the theatre and instill a desire to rise to those possibilities. Advanced students were taught how to master dialects, and the resources they developed further contributed to the resources of the "speech library." Furthermore, semester-end recordings of his/her conversational speech as well as a sampling of performance marked each student's progress. Recognizing theatre students' heavy schedule of classes and rehearsals, and their difficulty in getting to the university library on short notice, Van also urged the development of a "script library" to make certain materials available to our students in a room bordering our classrooms. She, the faculty, and alumni donated many books, periodicals, and scripts. Van spent many hours organizing the staffing of these mini-facilities and supervising the work in addition to developing new materials, working on her books, and teaching a heavy class-load. She empowered students by expecting the best of them, and she was always ready to give extra help to students who needed it. Her integrity, her skill, her dedication, her wit, and her unflagging efforts to expand the resources available to students won her their affection and admiration as well as that of her colleagues. She was a splendid, pioneering spirit and upon her retirement was the first theatre professor to be granted "Emeritus" status. Her contributions to the artistic ambitions of the school and to the curriculum in its early development helped lay the groundwork for today's eminence. -Professor Emeritus William Lacey [Among her students at the Neighborhood Playhouse were
Marian Seldes, Joanne Woodward, Tammy Grimes, Steve McQueen and Richard
Boone. Among those at B.U. were Faye Dunaway, Alfre Woodard, and David
Garrison.] |
Boston University School of Theatre Arts| 855 Commonwealth Ave, Rm. 470 | Boston, MA 02115 | Main Office (617) 353-3390 | | http://www.bu.edu/tad ©Copyright 2000-2001 by Boston University School for the Arts, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. The information on this website is subject to change without notice.