Arts and Humanities Commons^™

War Of The Moon, Bibiana Medkova

Masters Theses

Space, in the post-World War context, was the new frontier of ‘global’ dominion. Space Race of the 1950s was a competition to signal technological capability and military strength. The objective of War of the Moon is to unpack the motivation for Moon race in 1950s. What did countries have to gain politically, economically, socially and technologically by conquering space and landing on the moon. At what cost? Who financed it, and where did the labor, land, and raw materials sourced come from. And how it was used to accomplish said landing. Space security is a massive aspect of all current …

Exodus, A Museum Of Between: Directing An Original Staging Of Object Journalism, Oral Testimony And Early Italian Opera, Gabriel Harrell

Masters Theses

This written thesis documents how I, accompanied by a team of talented colleagues, conceived of, planned, and began the process of staging Exodus, a museum of between. I begin with an introduction to the theory and influences that shaped the work in its earliest stages. I go on to discuss the major themes of the work, chiefly an excavation of the idea of belonging, and posit a model of theater making modeled on a kaleidoscope, a model that aims to serve as a device through which to see one of our oldest stories with new eyes. I discuss the three …

Composing The Performance Of Ōto Shōgo’S The Water Station, Vishnupad Barve

Masters Theses

This written portion of my thesis documents my process as a director in composing the Performance of Ōto Shōgo’s The Water Station in collaboration with a creative team of designers, dramaturgs, stage managers and performers.

I share with the reader my processes toward fostering cohesion and collaboration among a team while composing a theatrical experience that departs from many theatrical conventions. I discuss significant learnings from several areas of dramaturgical and performance research that dovetail within the performance: aesthetics of divestiture, dramaturgy of simultaneity and composition of psychophysical score, and how I used this research to support the communication with …

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Dramaturgical Concerns): Re-Centering Dramaturgy And Comedy As Feminist Tools For Social Change, Shaila Schmidt

Masters Theses

Titled as a play on Mindy Kaling’s 2011 book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), this thesis highlights the obstacles women, the genre of comedy, and dramaturgs face in order to be taken seriously in the arts. Using the work of Mindy Kaling, I explore how she uses comedy as a means of defying the expectations put upon her as an Indian American woman in order to provide context for the ways in which the marginal statuses of women of color and comedy overlap.

In an effort to demonstrate the ways in which comedy can be …

Kofifi/Covfefe: How The Costumes Of "Sophiatown" Bring 1950s South Africa To Western Massachusetts In 2020, Emma Hollows

Masters Theses

This thesis paper reflects upon the costume design process taken by Emma Hollows to produce a realist production of the Junction Avenue Theatre Company’s musical Sophiatown at the Augusta Savage Gallery at the University of Massachusetts in May 2020. Sophiatown follows a household forcibly removed from their homes by the Native Resettlement Act of 1954 amid apartheid in South Africa. The paper discusses her attempts as a costume designer to strike a balance between replicating history and making artistic changes for theatre, while always striving to create believable characters.