about

Christine Hamel is an actor, voice coach, director, and scholar with a focus on the politics of voice, emotion, and embodiment. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Voice and Acting at Boston University’s School of Theatre.

Her book - co-authored with philosopher Ann J. Cahill - Sounding Bodies: Identity, Injustice, and the Voice (Bloomsbury/Methuen, 2021) is a study of the ethical, political, and social meanings of both the everyday and performing voice. Their research and frameworks for a justice-centered approach to voice training was the focal point for the VASTA/CEUVOZ 2023 joint conference in La Paz, Mexico.

Christine has worked extensively as a voice and text coach - coaching close to 100 professional productions - at theaters on Broadway, off-Broadway, regional and local. She is a public speaking consultant for book authors, executives, trainers, and teachers and collaborates regularly with other schools at BU (School of Public Health and the College of Arts and Sciences) to prepare students to share their research on public platforms ranging from TED talks to the World Health Organization.

As a director, Christine has a particular interest in solo plays, and has worked on Leahy Ardon’s Conflict Zone, Ibrahim Miari’s award-winning In Between, and storyteller Antonia Lassar’s God Box. Christine was recently named a Granada Artist-in-Residence (2022) at University of California, Davis, where she devised and directed the solo performance project Alone/Together. She served as playwright, actor, and director with the central Massachusetts community-based professional ensemble Village Theatre Project from 2005-2010. In 2011, Christine founded and served as the artistic director of the Femina Shakes initiative at BU which ran for 8 years.

Her acting credits include off-Broadway and regional productions, including at PTP/NYC, Olney Theatre Center, Central Square Theater, New Repertory Theatre, and others, and she is a proud member of Actors’ Equity.

Christine has also served on the faculties of the Walnut Hill School, Emerson College, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, BU Opera Institute, Longy School of Music, and as guest faculty at Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA), where she was named a 2020-21 MICHA Teacher-Scholar. She has been an invited lecturer at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (UK), Shanghai Theater Academy (China), New England Conservatory, and Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI).

Christine was a frequent collaborator with StageSource to provide training opportunities to the local Boston community, and with them created a program called the “The Actor’s Reconnect”: a series of free zoom workshops for performers during the lockdown and extended social distancing of the early pandemic.

At BU, Christine served as co-chair of Performance and program head of the BFA Acting program from 2019-2023, and was in the inaugural cohort of the University’s Inclusive Pedagogy Institute.

Christine is a Designated Linklater Voice teacher, holds a teacher training certificate of completion from MICHA, and is pursuing a Fox Method certification in Nervous System Education for the Performing Artist.

Christine is an avid cook and a team member with Community Cooks to provide meals to neighbors in need in Boston. She lives in Concord, MA with her spouse, actor/teacher Shelley Bolman, and their teenager, Foster Willow.

Contact

School of Theatre
Boston University
855 Commonwealth Ave
Office 474
Boston, MA 02215

Email: chamel@bu.edu