Arts and Humanities Commons^™

From Playwriting To Production, Lauren Wade

Senior Honors Projects

Theater has been a beloved art form for centuries, originating in Ancient Greek times and evolving into what we know today. For as long as I can remember I have been involved in theater, performing in my own school plays starting in elementary school and, upon entering high school, assisting the middle school next door in their productions. While I have been studying acting here at the University of Rhode Island, I have also had the opportunity to expand my knowledge in many aspects of stagecraft including stage management, costume and set design, set construction and scenic painting, and more …

An Actor's Method To Building The Character Of Mother Superior In Agnes Of God, Venita J. Matthews

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Agnes of God is the story of a nun (Agnes) who gets pregnant while living in a convent. She almost dies after giving birth to a baby, who was later found dead in a garbage can. The cast consists of three members: Agnes; Mother Miriam Ruth (Mother Superior); and Dr. Martha Livingstone, the court appointed psychiatrist. Faith is tested as Dr. Livingstone draws closer to uncovering the truth surrounding the conception, birth, and death of Agnes’ baby.

I performed the role of Mother Superior in the UNO production of Agnes of God. This thesis documents my rehearsal and …

Finding Exuberance For The Role Shelby In Baltimore., Danielle Smart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents my discovery of exuberance as the key to a successful performance and reveals the challenges I faced in developing a character whose major actions in the play fall into the category of masking (i.e. hiding, avoiding, dodging). I define exuberance and discuss how I came to understand that sustaining exuberance requires a great deal of technical expertise specifically in acting, movement and voice in order to accommodate the demands of the character. I contend that exuberance also requires commitment and nurturing of the actor’s personal artistic vision. This thesis will discuss some of the difficulties I faced …

Building The Bastard : Confidence Through Preparation In Shakespeare's King Lear., Shaleen Tarun Cholera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is to chart my discovery that confidence is essential to an actor’s craft. This thesis focuses on my performance as Edmund in King Lear, as well as my production the previous summer playing Hussein in Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced. I draw from a variety of sources, such as meditation and formal acting exercises, to achieve confidence. Most importantly, I distill my missteps as an actor for a better understanding of what hinders confidence when building a role for performance.

Two Unknown Essays By Craig On The Production Of Shakespeare's Plays, Patrick Le Boeuf

Mime Journal

In the 1920s and 1930s, Craig drafted two essays on Shakespeare, neither of which was completed nor published. Although they cannot be ranked among Craig’s most inspired writings, these two unfinished essays are of great interest, as they show that Craig, then in his fifties-sixties, was walking on a thin line dividing two most contrasted landscapes: on the one hand he was more attracted than ever to forms of radical modernity, on the other hand he was at risk of indulging in gratuitously archaeological reconstitutions, while being aware of that danger.

The Dancer And The Übermarionette: Isadora Duncan And Edward Gordon Craig, Olga Taxidou

Mime Journal

Olga Taxidou analyzes the ambiguous concept for which Edward Gordon Craig is best known—the “übermarionette”—alongside Isadora Duncan’s discussions of the liberated dancer. Highlighting the emphasis on futurity in Craig’s and Duncan’s manifestos and theories, she contends that this pairing works to undo the binaries between Hellenism and modernism, and between mechanistic and vitalistic aesthetics. Emphasizing the impact of Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy (1872) and Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theories upon Duncan’s theory and practice, Taxidou locates Duncan within an intellectual vanguard that includes Jane Harrison and her fellow Cambridge Ritualists as well as major modernist poets.

Nine Ways Of Opening Macbeth, Patrick Le Boeuf

Mime Journal

A previously unpublished essay by Edward Gordon Craig in which Craig considers various directorial and casting choices for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Edited, with notes, by Patrick Le Boeuf.

A Note On Sanity In Stage Productions Of Shakespearean Plays, Patrick Le Boeuf

Mime Journal

A previously unpublished essay by Edward Gordon Craig which elucidates his ideas about the “right” way to produce Shakespeare. Edited, with notes, by Patrick Le Boeuf.

Edward Gordon Craig, Étienne Decroux, And The Rediscovery Of Mime, Harvey Grossman

Mime Journal

In this edited transcription of his remarks at the 2013 Pomona College (California) conference “Action, Scene and Voice,” Harvey Grossman elucidates the theory and practice of his two most important teachers: Edward Gordon Craig and Étienne Decroux. Grossman elucidates Craig’s much-debated comments on the “Art of the Theatre,” as well as Craig’s influence upon the French corporeal mime Étienne Decroux. He relates in detail Craig’s positive response to seeing Decroux and his students (among them Jean-Louis Barrault and Éliane Guyon) perform in 1945.

Edward Gordon Craig's Übermarionette And Étienne Decroux's "Actor Made Of Wood", Thomas Leabhart, Sally Leabhart

Mime Journal

Thomas Leabhart testifies to Edward Gordon Craig’s continuing influence on postmodern mime and movement. Leabhart discusses the influences that shaped Craig’s theory of acting. He then considers what the living actor and Craig’s “übermarionette” have to say to each other, putting pressure on the binary between human and non-human performers, especially in physical theater. Himself a student from 1968-72 of Étienne Decroux, the French corporeal mime and teacher whom the elderly Craig recognized as an “artist of the theatre,” Leabhart relates how he carries on Decroux’s pedagogy and legacy as a performer and teacher of corporeal mime.

Contents - Edward Gordon Craig Special Issue 2017, Jennifer A. Buckley, Anne Holt

Mime Journal

Cover, front matter, and contents for Mime Journal Special Issue, "Action, Scene, and Voice: 21st-Century Dialogues with Edward Gordon Craig." Guest editors: Jennifer Buckley and Annie Holt.

Editors' Note - Action, Scene, And Voice: 21st-Century Dialogues With Edward Gordon Craig, Jennifer A. Buckley, Anne Holt

Mime Journal

A roadmap to this Special Issue of Mime Journal. This issue emphasizes the tissue of influences that shaped Craig’s own work and continue to impact contemporary theater and performance. By focusing on the historical contexts in which his ideas were developed and those in which they have been received, the essays counter the widely held perception of Craig as the solitary genius of the “Art of the Theatre.” His claims of originality and singularity have too often obscured the connections between his work and that of other artists—especially the dancer Isadora Duncan, upon whom two of the pieces included here …

The Revolutionary: On Isadora Duncan And Edward Gordon Craig, Jennifer A. Buckley, Lori Belilove

Mime Journal

Jennifer Buckley interviews dancer, choreographer, and teacher Lori Belilove on Isadora Duncan’s practice and legacy. Belilove argues for Duncan’s modernism, and emphasizes her impact upon Edward Gordon Craig’s developing aesthetic and his career. This edited transcription of their conversation takes its point of departure from Craig’s portfolio of six drawings of Duncan in action, Isadora Duncan: Sechs Bewegungsstudien, Insel Verlag, 1906. Belilove sees both Craig and Duncan as poised between late Victorianism and modernism, and she contends they shared a modernist impulse toward abstraction. Belilove also comments on her own practice as a performer and as a teacher passing …

Blowing Off Ste(A)M: The Value Of The Creative Arts For Gifted Stem Students (Iagc 2017), Tracy A. Townsend, Michael W. Hancock, Michael P. Dean

Faculty Publications & Research

The following is a collection of teaching documents, including classroom activities and assignment prompts, used in the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy’s Graphic Novels, Creative Writing, and Modern Theater classes. These materials are easily included in courses with broader topical focuses, however, either as single-day activities or units of study. The specific materials included here are especially beneficial as means of encouraging student creativity, building up a variety of communication skills, rewarding experimental work, and providing new outlets for critical thinking and social-emotional development.

Should We Straighten Up? Exploring The Responsibilities Of Actor Training For Lgbtq Students, Matthew B. Ferrell

Theses and Dissertations

Gay actors have a long history with the notion of “straightening up” to remain castable and economically feasible in today’s market. Searching to find answers for young acting students while strengthening their own self worth, I will explore the history of gay actors in film, television and theatre and in society to understand this notion more fully. By interviewing working actors and managers in the business I will explore how I can address this question of “straightening up” to the future generation of actors and analyze how we can face the future with integrity and self-respect.

Terrible Telegrams, Cara Lindsay Reid

LSU Master's Theses

In compliance to the curriculum at Louisiana State University and Swine Palace’s Actor Training Program, M.F.A. Acting candidates are required to create and develop a one-person show. The objective is to foster the actor’s creative virtuosity and to give them the confidence, capability, and skill set to continue to create their own work after graduation. My play is about Lucy James, a recent college graduate, who moves to New York to follow her dreams of becoming an actress. Lucy's love for the craft is challenged when she takes a demoralizing job and her life begins to spiral out of control. …

Me Paenitet, Joshua Stenvick

LSU Master's Theses

The coming pages will document my journey from the initial creative spark, to the final performance of a one-man show. The first chapter will chronicle the creative process and how I came about the idea. The second chapter will show you the performance text along with analysis to give a side-by-side example. The third and final chapter will detail what this thesis project means to me personally, my graduate degree and how my views on art have evolved. What was my one-man show about? It’s a story about the moment our moral compass is turned upside down, and finding our …

The Treasure Of Welks-Kreer, Lance Rasmussen

LSU Master's Theses

This paper is intended to document the process of developing and performing The Treasure of Welks-Kreer, a one-man show written by Lance Rasmussen in fulfillment of the requirement for his Master of Fine Arts in Acting degree at Louisiana State University. Harkening back to the memories of his childhood and his current passions and interests, Lance wrote The Treasure of Welks-Kreer as a story of hope and exploration. The story follows The Metaphor, a superhero who finds himself transported back to the basement where he used to play table-top roleplaying games with the group of friends who eventually formed his …

Directing Through Dialogue: A Theatre Director’S Exploration Of Leadership, Gabrielle Frances Metcalf

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The esteemed position that a director holds in the creative process is a recent phenomenon. It emerged towards the end of the 19th century. Then, the role of a theatre director encompassed the idea of a single, creative force, coordinating and controlling the elements of a production. Not much has changed. Despite the significance of the role, the literature is largely silent on how a director directs and how a director leads. The paucity of research on the director’s leadership style reflects the way in which the practice of directing occurs — behind closed-doors. Its private nature can deter and …