Firsts & Founders: Early Women in Drama at Yale

Those Who Can Do & Teach

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Constance Welch | Elizabeth Elson

Constance Welch

Constance Welch came to Yale in 1929 to teach one class and stayed for 38 years, retiring in 1967 as one of the most influential faculty members in what was by then the professional School of Drama. She began as a part-time instructor after Baker recruited her to teach one course in “voice correction,” “correct reading of verse and cadenced speech.” Within the year she was teaching advanced play production, coaching, and directing along with diction. Welch was appointed assistant professor of play production in 1932, and in 1938 she was promoted to associate professor.

An open, spiral-bound appointment book covered in notes in blue and black ink, and pencil.

Constance Welch's appointment book, 1952

In her appointment book from 1952 (right), notes about errands and bills are interspersed with thoughts on character motivation, approaches to acting, and critiques of performances.

Boxes of correspondence from former students beginning “Dear Miss Welch…” attest to the enormous impact she made on them. One example is a 1950 letter from Blanche Muldrow, who writes that Welch influenced her whole approach to teaching and creativity. In its 2008 obituary for Paul Newman, the Yale Daily News credits Welch with teaching him how to act. Among her many other famous students was Robert Brustein, later dean of Yale School of Drama and founding artistic director of Yale Repertory Theatre.

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Elizabeth Elson

Elizabeth Elson’s 1929 thesis (below right) was a historical essay about staging Euripides’ Medea, including set and costume sketches, lighting plans, and an annotated script with notes on direction and the positions of the actors. She worked as stage carpenter on several productions during her student years, in addition to acting onstage.

Paper program cover printed in orange-red. Eugene O'Niell's The Emperor Jones, Bound East for Cardiff. Featured an illustration of an man's bust with a crown askew on his head, stylized and referencing African visual motifs.

Program for Emperor Jones and Bound East for Cardiff, 1931

Having earned her certificate in 1929, Elson was appointed assistant in production for the 1929–30 academic year. She directed Sophocles’ The Trachinae, designed dances for The Winter’s Tale (see next page), and assisted Baker on a production of The Emperor Jones (left), part of a celebration of Eugene O’Neill, all in 1931.

Elson taught directing, coaching, and advanced play production alongside Constance Welch and Alexander Dean beginning in 1930–31, the year that the department began conferring M.F.A. degrees. Elson earned her M.F.A. in 1934.

Black binder cover with paper label affixed, reading "Medea Euripides."

Elizabeth Elson, An Approach to an Historical Production of Euripides' 'Medea', 1929

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