Dialects for the Stage

by Evangeline Machlin

Overview

Dialect work is one of the actor's most challenging tasks. Need to know a Russian accent? Playing a German countess or a Midwestern farmhand? These and more accents – from Yiddish to French Canadian – are clearly explained in Evangeline Machlin's classic work.

Now available in a book-and-downloadable resources format, Evangeline Machlin's Dialects for the Stage is based on a method of dialect acquisition she developed during her years working with students at Boston University's Division of Theatre. During her long career, Evangeline Machlin trained such actors as Steve McQueen, Lee Grant, Suzanne Pleshette, Joanne Woodward, and Faye Dunaway.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878302000
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/28/2006
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Evangeline Machlin was formerly director of speech studies at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and Lecturer in Speech at Columbia University.

Table of Contents

Part One - The Actor, the CDs and the Manual, Part Two - Using the Dialect Texts and the Dialect Data, Part Three - Steps in the Play-It-and-Say-It Method of Learning Dialects, Part Four - North American Dialects, Part Five - Standard English: North American and British, Part Six - Dialects of Great Britain and Ireland, Part Seven - European Accents, Part Eight - Symbols and Sounds of the International Phonetic Alphabet

Editorial Reviews

Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen combines the best aspects of other popular dialect training methods into a succinct, comprehensive and affordable training tool. Sentence drilling similar to that in Jerry Blunt's Stage Dialects, modeling of the dialect in David Alan Stern's Acting with an Accent series, and authentic speaker samples similar to Gillian Lane-Plescia's compilations are all incorporated into Meier's "Seven Step Method" of learning an accent or dialect. Using John Well's familiar lexical sets in each study, Meier lays out the phonetic "signature sounds" prior to the sentence drills, and the specific phonemic adjustments are adroitly described and modeled by Meier in the recording. Additional features (particularly unique linguistic characteristics) are described next, followed by an explanation of the rhythm, stress, intonation and tone. Coordination exercises and sample dramatic texts include full IPA narrow transcriptions and references to the sound change lessons.
— Voice and Speech Review, 2007

Krista Scott