Digital Commons Network^™

Disability Representation In Contemporary Playwriting, Caroline Hull

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Is it possible for a playwright to authentically capture the disabled experience without it becoming privy to stereotypes or utilized as a catalyst for the plot? The thesis aims to challenge the prevalent notion that making the disability intrinsic to a theatrical plot is essential for authentic representation, and instead asserts that authentic portrayal of the disabled experience can exist independently of making the disability a central plot device. To support this claim, In Chapter One, I engage with relevant work in the field of playwriting and narrative media studies, such as the workshop “Inaccessible: Writing Plays with Characters who …

Gerontology In Bryony Lavery’S A Wedding Story (2000) And Sebastian Barry’S Hinterland (2002), Rania M Rafik Khalil

English Language and Literature

Old age is perceived as a narrative of decline, recently, an alternative perspective was introduced known as positive aging or Gerotranscendance. This paper examines ageing in Bryony Lavery’s A Wedding Story (2000) and Sebastian Barry’s Hinterland (2002) through the theory of gerontology. Gerontology in British and Irish modern theatre, according to Giovanna Tallone (2020) and Heather Ingman (2018), is a new category in literary studies and theory. The paper aims to examine the challenges of retaining agency in old age in comparison to the notion of aging as a process of inner harmony further proving that despite the process of …

Judged By The Cover, Jay Froio

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Creating Controversy: An In-Depth Look At The Creation Of Redux, Alexandria Miles

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis will provide a detailed account of the process by which Redux, a devised play produced by The Radical Buffoons, was created. I will explain how I developed various original characters as well as the acting choices I made along the way. I will shed light on the social climate that inspired this piece and the historical implications that influenced our work. Redux was performed on January 28^th, 30^th, 31^st, and February 4^th, 6^th, and 7^th of 2022 at The Hotel Peter Paul in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Scenic Design For “Topdog Underdog”, Austin Aschbrenner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The 2019 production of Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks at the University of Arkansas was produced with a guest director who, throughout the process of the production, experimented with the typical perception of the Pulitzer Prize winning play and added conceptual spins to help open the eyes of the mostly small town and rural based audience. This thesis will explore the various elements of this particular production and which of these elements contributed to exploring the depths of Topdog/Underdog.

This document will analyze the design process of the University of Arkansas’s production of Topdog/Underdog, and will analyze specific design choices which …

Female Leaders Navigate The Arts, Post 'Me Too', Peyton Kennedy

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

As the lights dim and the curtain rises on a theatrical production, there are roles to fill onstage and off. Perhaps the most important roles in modern theatre are those of leadership. Leaders in the arts have the power to influence company communication, shape the culture of the rehearsal room and navigate through a crisis. However, leadership and power can be manipulated, as the world witnessed through the ‘me too’ movement. As allegations rose against prominent leaders, the push for change strengthened. We are now three years past Hollywood’s ignition of the ‘me too’ movement, which prompts the question: have …

Memories: The Lighting Design For “The Glass Menagerie”, Catherine Blencowe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents new ways of looking at an old classic by illuminating the emotions and hardship of the Wingfield family through the use of color and texture. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was presented at the University of Arkansas in September of 2017. The challenges of this production will be addressed as well as the achievements and areas of improvement of this production. Finally, this document will answer the question: How does color, texture, and the angle of stage lighting help heighten the emotions of the characters and engage an audience in the play?

Included are all the …

Trespassing Physical Boundaries: Transgression, Vulnerability And Resistance In Sarah Kane’S Blasted (1995), Paula Barba Guerrero, Ana Mª Manzanas Calvo

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Sarah Kane’s Blasted has been analyzed from various perspectives that address the layers of destruction it exposes. From the questioning of its title and meaning, to the unravelling of the protagonists’ abusive relationship, the analyses have emphasized the depiction of vulnerability as the defining human trait that Jean Ganteau observes in contemporary British literature. However, a key aspect has been overlooked in the critical response to the play: for Kane vulnerability does not equal helplessness, but rather stands in opposition to it. Hence, this article concentrates on how Blasted formulates a new understanding of vulnerability that fits Judith Butler’s later …

Performing Research: Contemplating What It Means To Be A "Man", George Belliveau

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

Sharing research in performative modes opens new possibilities for meaning making. This article offers a monologue that explores my experience of working on a theatre project with military veterans. The impact of working on the creative process with veterans inspired this performed piece, and provided an opportunity to contemplate what it means to be a ‘man’ in today’s society. The article first situates performed research within current arts-based literature prior to sharing the creative piece, which is at the heart of this offering. The piece then concludes with how performed research opens the possibility for different forms of engagement and …

Wait, She's Alive?! Playing Characters Based On Real, Living People, Courtney Jensen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is for the performance of Sara Jane Moore in Assassins and for development, contributions, and performance of a new play written for our graduating class, A Hamlet: West of Why. This thesis also consists of my statement of artistry, documentation of artistic materials, and thesis related performance materials.

The Lines Between The Lines: Stage Directions As Fluid, Affective Collaborations Between Theatre Texts And Theatre Makers, Sarah Bess Rowen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project contends that certain kinds of stage directions can affectively engage the bodies of actors, and the imaginations of directors and designers, resulting in a collaboratively created performance of a given theatre text. As opposed to more literary treatments of stage directions, this project contends that theories of embodiment, especially affect theory, is a useful lens through which to explore the range of potential performances present in various stage directions. By analyzing the ways in which stage directions allow for more agency than has traditionally been considered in theatre scholarship, I seek to encourage theatre makers and scholars alike …

Night Launch, Cavan Hallman

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Staging (Within) Violence: A Conversation With Frank Wilderson And Jaye Austin Williams, Jaye Austin Williams

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Professional Wrestling: Local Performance History, Global Performance Praxis, Neal Anderson Hebert

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Professional Wrestling: Local Performance History, Global Performance Praxis, is a work of interdisciplinary scholarship (combining elements of theatre history, performance studies, and philosophy) that addresses an area of performance currently under-researched within the liberal arts and humanities: professional wrestling. My dissertation directs much-needed attention to the fact that professional wrestling is the only kind of live drama many Americans ever see (or even want to see). Although it is no doubt easy for theatre historians and performance theorists to dismiss this performance practice because of its location somewhere between “illegitimate sport” and “lowbrow popular entertainment,” I contend that United States …

Ouchita Students To Direct And Perfom In One-Act Play Festival Dec. 11-12, Dalaney Thomas, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University's Department of Theatre Arts will host its annual One-Act Play Festival on Thursday and Friday, Dec 11-12, at 7:30 p.m. in Verser Theatre. The performances are free and open to the public.

The Miracle Of Being, Carolyn Toner

Senior Theses and Projects

Exploration of the thematic and performative elements in the plays of Eugene Ionesco. 20th century absurdist playwright, Eugene Ionesco, explores the idea of what it means to be human in his plays. I will explore elements of that theme and analyze of these themes in eight of his plays: Victims of Duty, The Lesson, Hunger and Thirst, Exit the King, The Chairs, Amedee, A Stroll in the Air, and The Killer. In addition, I will discuss important performative aspects of his plays as they relate to his theme of humanness.

Loving The Art In Yourself, Mary Moynihan

Books/Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Interview With Margaret Toomey, Mary Moynihan

Books/Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

I See London, I See France, Molly C. Kessler

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

'Winds Of Change' In The Moon In The Yellow River And The Dreaming Dust By Denis Johnston: Staging Identity In A Crisis, Virginie Girel-Pietka

Journal of Franco-Irish Studies

No abstract provided.

From Thin Air : The Creation Of A New American Musical, Jason Bayle

LSU Master's Theses

During the fall of 2011 and spring of 2012, each MFA candidate began work on solo theatre projects ranging in a wide array of topics and genres. The goal was not to present a complete piece of theatre necessarily, but begin work on a project that could continue as we left LSU. Instead of constructing a solo piece, the faculty and I agreed that I could begin work on a multi-actor script based on the concept of setting a collection of country songs close friends of mine wrote as a new musical. I would create the story, write as much …

Acting For Change – Four Drama Workshop Models In Anti-Racism, Anti-Sectarianism, Human Rights And Gender Equality And Storytelling To Promote Reconciliation, Mary Moynihan

Books/Book Chapters

This booklet is written by Mary Moynihan and produced by Smashing Times Theatre Company Limited as part of Acting for Change, a year-long arts programme using high quality drama and theatre processes to promote reconciliation within Donegal and on a cross-community, cross-border basis. As part of the project, in addition to presenting a professional theatre performance and seminar, the company developed four new awareness raising participative drama workshop models, designed by Mary Moynihan to promote anti-racism, anti-sectarianism, equality and storytelling for reconciliation.

The four drama workshop models are printed in full in this booklet along with resource information for drama …

Mind The Gap : An Examination Of The Pause In Modern Theatre; And, Shadows : A Play (Major Creative Work); And, Bank Accounts : A Collage Of Monologues (Minor Creative Work), John L. Pratt

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Both as a student of theatre and, eventually, as a professional practitioner, it has long been apparent to me that there is a dearth of reference material on what has become one of the modern theatre’s most important elements: the pause. Actors, directors and playwrights can only interpret the word ‘pause’ according to their own experience and its meaning remains nebulous, even after agreement has been reached in a specific context. The essay, Mind The Gap, examines the significance of the pause to these various practitioners. It suggests, with examples, close analysis of the purpose of each pause, differentiation of …

Perception, Power, Plays, And Print: Charles Ii And The Restoration Theatre Of Consensus, Christopher William Nelson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation aims to establish the importance of Charles II in the shaping and evolution of Restoration theatre. Even more so than the playwrights themselves, Charles II determined the future of the theatre, both by his conscious efforts to do so, as well as unintentionally through his own behavior and image. The tradition of Restoration theatre began in 1660 with Charles’s efforts at establishing a consensus theatre, in which it would appear that he enjoyed unanimous support for his return to England from exile. Consensus theatre was determined by the perception of Charles’s rule and character, his power to manipulate …

Southern Bellas: The Construction Of Mestiza Identity In Southern Narratives, Wendy Aimee Braun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project analyzes representations and self-representations of Mestizas living in areas of the Deep South that lack a significant Latino presence. Incorporating a range of media, I take a comparative approach to Southern cultural narratives and propose a re-reading of these works through an examination of identity formation and cultural negotiation. By centering the Southern Mestiza, this dissertation advances concepts of intersectionality to address the role of region, as well as race and gender, in the representation and experiences of women often overlooked in Southern and U.S. Latino studies. The Introductory chapter summarizes the theoretical framework for the study, including …

Replacing The Priest: Tradition, Politics, And Religion In Early Modern Irish Drama., Leslie Ann Valley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Ireland's identity was continually pulled between its loyalties to Catholicism and British imperialism. In response to this conflict of identity, W. B. Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory argued the need for an Irish theatre that was demonstrative of the Irish people, returning to the literary traditions to the Celtic heritage. What resulted was a questioning of religion and politics in Ireland, specifically the Catholic Church and its priests. Yeat's own drama removed the priests from the stage and replaced them with characters demonstrative of those literary traditions, establishing what he called a "new …

Beyond Blonde: Creating A Non-Stereotypical Audrey In Ken Ludwig's Leading Ladies, Christine Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

American society possesses strong, if not basic, stereotypes for each hair color: the "dumb" blonde, the "intelligent" or "serious" brunette, and the "spitfire" redhead. In contemporary entertainment culture, blonde women have achieved unique status beyond the stereotypes accorded to their brunette and redheaded counterparts. Revered and reviled simultaneously, these women cannot be ignored or dismissed. The convention of the "dumb blonde" is at the heart of this issue. When scrutinized, it is possible to discern at least four distinctions of this stereotype: the perceived as truly dumb, or innocent, blonde (Johanna in Sweeney Todd); the bombshell blonde (Lorelei Lee in …

The Role Of Fabiana Aziza Cunningham In Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot: A Production Thesis In Acting, Leigh-Erin Balmer

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis will follow the experience of Leigh-Erin Balmer in creating the role of Fabiana Aziza Cunningham, a character written by Stephen Adly Guirgis in his play, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. The role of Cunningham is the topic of this production thesis in acting, which will be submitted to the Graduate School of Louisiana State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with the Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre. The thesis contains an introduction; textual analysis and research (regarding author and original production history as well as other text materials); a character study, including …

Taylor: A Magazine For Taylor University Alumni, Parents And Friends (Summer 2008), Taylor University

The Taylor Magazine (1963-Present)

The Summer 2008 edition of Taylor Magazine, published by Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.

A Performance Study And Analysis Of The Role Of Soot In The Marriage Of Bette And Boo, Jodi Coleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1985, Christopher Durang created a master work titled The Marriage of Bette and Boo which was described by The New Yorker as a "brimming cornucopia of brilliant lines." Frank Rich of the New York Times called it "so speedy and chipper that it could almost be mistaken for a Bob Fosse musical." Douglas Watt of the New York Daily News referred to it as a "farcical study of a disastrous marriage, marked by still births, insanity in the family and divorce." These critical responses indicate the necessity to maintain the complexity of the character of Soot without allowing her …