Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Divination, Brannon Evans

Honors Theses

This document details my time developing a cross-discipline devised theatre experience. The piece explores the various ways we interact with technology. The start of the process was fueled by one simple question: “What can multi faceted collaboration look like (between peers– not just across disciplines, but through an equally shared devising process)?” Through this documentation, I will be able to reflect upon and learn from my experience as a facilitator, actor, and theatre maker.

This thesis will be broken into six different parts to outline the six stages I underwent while creating the piece: developing the team, source material exploration, …

"To Control A Human Destiny:" Sound Design For Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, Allison Bucher

Honors Theses

This undergraduate thesis details the sound design process for the University of Southern Mississippi’s Fall 2021 production of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. Through analysis of the script style of the play, research of the playwright, and collaboration with the artistic team, this student created and implemented an effective sound design for this production.

Keywords: sound, design, theatre, Hedda Gabler, Ibsen

“Though She Be But Little She Is Fierce”: Playing Hermia On The Virtual Stage, Taylor Alleman

Honors Theses

This thesis displays an undergraduate theatre performance student’s process for portraying the character Hermia in the University of Southern Mississippi’s Spring 2021 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The student completed a detailed script and character analysis, practiced specific vocal and movement techniques, and explored various choices in rehearsals in order to create a profound character that best fit the production.

Keywords: Theatre, Analysis, Vocal, Movement, Performing, Shakespeare

Once In A Lifetime: Designing Hair And Makeup For The Era Of Sound, Olga Goupalova

Honors Theses

This thesis describes the design process of an undergraduate theatre student creating hair and makeup looks for a production of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s Once in a Lifetime, presented by the University of Southern Mississippi in the Fall of 2021. This thesis involved a detailed analysis of characters, the collection of primary research from the Roaring Twenties period, and constant communication with both the production team and the performers in order to achieve the most functional yet aesthetically pleasing hair and makeup designs possible.

Keywords: Hair, Makeup, Design, Theatre, Once in a Lifetime, Roaring Twenties, George S. …

A Documentation Of A Year As An Artistic Director For Unl, Philip Crawford

Honors Theses

The goal of this project was to document a year of being an Artistic Director for UNL’s student run theatre company Theatrix. Through this documentation, I will be able to reflect upon and learn from my experiences as a leader, director, and theatre maker.

This thesis will be broken up into eight different parts to outline the eight different stages I experienced as Artistic Director this year: season selection, the 24-hour Play Festival, The Revolutionists, The Thanksgiving Play, Clown Bar, season changes, Based on a Totally True Story, and Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons. Through these eight stages, I will …

Captions For Covid? Hearing Accessibility In Virtual "Zoom" Theatre, Gianna Schuetz

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic shut the doors of theatres across the United States and the rest of the world. Live theatre came to a sudden halt as gatherings of people served as significant health risks. As live theatre performances became nearly obsolete, many theatre organizations were forced to creatively adapt to move their programming to a virtual format. Presenting theatre in a virtual format brings many challenges; however, it also brings opportunities for increased accessibility and access, particularly for individuals who are hard of hearing.

The following thesis explores hearing accessibility measures taken by theatre companies as they ventured into virtual …

Twelve Angry Men: A Twenty-First Century Reflection Of Race, Art, And Incarceration, Mackenzie A. Gross

Honors Theses

Twelve Angry Men: A Twenty-First Century Reflection of Race, Art and Incarceration is a Comparative and Digital Humanities Honors Thesis concentrating on Africana Studies, theatre, sociology and legal studies to demonstrate the importance of investing in incarcerated communities through theatre and education.

In Chapter I, I critique the loss of identity attached to incarceration, and introduce the foundation for Black bodies individuals being discriminated against in the prosecution system. I analyze the “Punishment vs Progress” mentality, and introduce current educational programs in place in prisons. I elaborate on the details of our production, as well as the makeup of actors. …

“More Beautiful Than God!”: Hair And Makeup Design For Eugene O’Neill’S Ah, Wilderness, Jackson L. Jones

Honors Theses

This thesis follows an undergraduate theatre designer’s process of designing and realizing hair and makeup for the University of Southern Mississippi’s Spring 2020 production of Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness! The student conducted a thorough script analysis, researched Edwardian style and society, and collaborated with the production’s artistic team to produce effective hair and makeup designs and fulfill practicum requirements.

The Art Of The Dress: How Getting Into Costume Affects An Actor’S Self-Perception, Ella Embry

Honors Theses

Both actors and psychologists devote enormous amounts of time to understanding how people think, act, and respond even if for completely different reasons. While there are psychological studies that look at the way clothing influences attraction, aggression, and attitude, none of it looks critically at theatrical performance. Costuming is a vital part of the theatrical process that has yet to be studied empirically. As such, my study is an inter-disciplinary endeavor dedicated to developing an understanding of exactly how and whether costuming affects an actor’s personality perception as a way to contribute to the field of psychology, future theatrical performances, …

One Art With Two Sides: Theatre And Performance Art, Jacob Watts

Honors Theses

Theatre is typically a scripted performance, performed by actors within a "Theatre space" and observed by an audience. When capitalized, "Theatre" refers to a field of art and study. It is produced to tell a story, or create meaning. Theatre contains elements of plot and characters, often using the characters to tell a story. Visual performance art is art that focuses on live human performance and defines itself in terms of "visual art" and not in terms of "Theatre performance." Performance art does not always occupy a specific place or use a specific kind of script. It often lacks character, …

Then & Now: The Relevance Of Tennessee Williams For The 21st- Century Actress, Marcie Danae Bealer

Honors Theses

Finding a place to begin, discussing the role Tennessee Williams has played in the American Theatre is a daunting task. As a playwright Williams has "sustained dramatic power," which allow him to continue to be a large part of American Theatre, from small theatre groups to actor's workshops across the country. Williams holds a central location in the history of American Theatre (Roudane 1). Williams's impact is evidenced in that "there is no actress on earth who will not testify that Williams created the best women characters in the modem theatre" (Benedict, par 1). According to Gore Vidal, "it is …

The Theatre As An Examination Of Power: Combining Political Theory And Theatre History, Richard A. Leahy

Honors Theses

Theatre and politics are intrinsically connected. The art of politics is extremely theatrical and the art of theatre has always been infused with political relationships. This congruity stems from the fact that both fields of practice originate from the same fundamental source: power. Both arts are different expressions of the same concept. This can be seen in the shared theatrical/political focus on argument; both theatre and politics have the same goal - convincing people by leading them to certain conclusions. Both politics and theatre necessitate getting others to believe what one is saying. The performer requires his audience to believe …

Early English Theatres, Leta Strother

Honors Theses

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, sport and amusement became increasingly popular to everyone. Even the poor were enthusiastic and interested in drama. Although different forms of plays like the miracle and morality had existed for many years, the drama had finally outgrown the inn-yard and wagon stages. Therefore, a new place was necessary for the presentation of plays. These 'new places' were called theatres.

There were three kinds of theatres in Queen Elizabeth's time. They were the public theatres, the private theatres, and the court theatre.