Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Have A Good One: A Writer’S Search For Place, Rafael Gallegos

Theatre & Dance ETDs

In this personal essay I will summarize my creative journey as a writer throughout my time in the Dramatic Writing program at the University of New Mexico. I will explore how the notion of home has shaped me and my work, focusing on my childhood in Lubbock, Texas, my theatrical coming of age in New York City, and my return to Albuquerque in search of my personal voice. I will present two works that illustrate my maturation as a dramatist and my focus on community and place as thematic throughlines. Have a Good One is a play set in a …

Theatre As An Intervention For Empathy Development Among Undergraduate Students, Jonathan Stewart

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Empathy is the ability feel into, or put oneself in the place of another. It is the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes. Studies have shown that this ability is decreasing among today’s college students and on the rise as a desired trait for today’s leaders. This dilemma provides an interesting opportunity to explore how institutions of higher education can help develop the leaders of tomorrow by increasing empathy among students. Specifically, this research explores theatre as an intervention for empathy development among college students.

Theatre, as a program of study, is unique within the college experience in that …

The Healing Power Of The Arts - Drama Therapy And The Use Of Theatre In The Treatment Of Trauma, Brooklyn Snyder

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Theatre is an incredibly valuable therapeutic tool. In this thesis, I explore the ways in which trauma can reshape individuals lives, both cognitively and physically, impeding their sense of self, ability to trust, engagement, and many other seemingly ordinary aspects of day to day life that those of us unaffected by trauma take for granted. Additionally, I cover how employing theatrical tools, like improvisation and role play, can act as a beneficial treatment option for those who have suffered a traumatic past. Drama therapy allows individuals to reconnect with their bodies and their minds, gain new perspectives on their experiences, …

Stage Management 101 And 102, Erin Teaster

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This is me comparing my first experience as a stage-manager to my second experience as a stage-manager. I learned more during my first time around then my second.

Lindsey, Ian-Meredythe, Zackary Caron

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Ian-Meredythe Lindsey moved around often during their childhood due to their parents being transferred for jobs. They lived in Oregon, Colorado, and finally Maine. Ian-Meredythe identifies as a non-binary transgender individual who considers themselves pansexual. Ian-Meredythe speaks in depth about their experiences with the erasure of themselves due to their gender identity and sexuality due to those not fitting within the gender-binary. Ian-Meredythe also focused on their experiences within the theatre, as they see very little room for non-binary individuals and storylines within the mainstream theatre productions. Ian-Meredythe focused on their involvement with Equality Maine, as well as their own …

Mini-Actors, Mega-Stages: Examining The Use Of Theatre Among Children And Youth In U.S. Evangelical Megachurches, Carla Elisha Lahey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

How do children and youth first encounter the performing arts? While schools may stand out as an obvious answer, a recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education shows that the percentage of public schools offering theatre classes dropped at both the primary and secondary level from 2000-2010 (Brenchley). Yet, even as arts offerings experience a decline in some public schools, many students are being introduced to performance through another venue – the evangelical megachurch.

Since the birth of the church growth movement in the 1970s, megachurches (defined as Protestant congregations that average at least 2,000 weekly attendees) have …

This Is Me: Anxiety And Depression Awareness Event, Stephanie Cotrone

Honors Projects

College and life are stressful, but they don't have to be. We've all been in that place where it feels like life is caving in and there's nowhere else to turn, but it does get better. This event brings awareness to mental illnesses common on college campuses and in the community. There will be engaging and interactive activities to learn about anxiety & depression, and healthy ways to cope through music, art, theatre, amusement parks, learning, reading, and more. Performances by the Humanities Troupe and testimonies by current students who have had experience dealing with mental illness before or who …

Silent Sky (November 6-9, 2019), Lauren Gunderson

Student Theatre Programs

Program for Silent Sky (November 6-9, 2019).

To view the photos from this production of Silent Sky , please click here.

She Stoops To Conquer - November 2019, Elizabeth Angelozzi

Theatre and Dance Productions

Directed by: Elizabeth Angelozzi

Pranks and hijinks abound in this raucous 18th century comedy of big costumes, big sets, big hair, and even bigger laughs. Two well-bred young men arrive at the country estate of Mr. Hardcastle, intending to woo his daughter Kate and her cousin Constance; but when local mischief-maker Tony Lumpkin plays a practical joke on the city slickers, the Hardcastle household is launched into a dizzying, deliciously preposterous romp of mistaken identity.

Estimated Runtime: 2 hours 40 minutes

Performance Dates: Nov. 14-17; 22-24, 2019

What A World – What A World: Scene/Script Analysis For Fight Plays, T. Fulton Burns

T. Fulton Burns

“While perfection is a wonderful goal, there comes a point where you have to let your creation out into the world or it isn’t worth a tinkerer’s damn.” This is a fantastic quote by Twyla Tharp from her book The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life: A Practical Guide. So what does this have to do with you, the stage combatant? Well you are working hard but you are being told not to strive for perfection because perfection can never truly be achieved in the arts, so naturally itwarrants the question “then for what exactly do you …

The Games People Play: Rehearsal Games & Approaches For Fight Scenes, T. Fulton Burns

T. Fulton Burns

There are as many approaches to the rehearsal period as there are directors, actors and acting texts combined. Rehearsals are the time that we all look forward to because we truly get to do what we do best in theatre, which is “play.” The games and approaches in this article are intended to spice up the life of your stage combat scene and enhance the time spent in rehearsal; following the initial time period of learning choreography and discovering initial acting choices. Many people see the rehearsal process as the time to work. I couldn’t agree more but, as stated …

Review Of Physical Theatres: A Critical Introduction, And: Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader, T. Fulton Burns

T. Fulton Burns

Simon Murray (Director of Theatre at Dartington College of Arts) and John Keefe (Senior lecturer at the London Metropolitan University Undergraduate Centre) offer the theatre world two movement analysis texts. These well written books, which focus on techniques from the Western world of physical theatre, would serve graduate level or highly focused classes in movement pedagogy or practice. With their identical six-chapter breakdowns (“Genesis, Contexts, Namings”; “Roots: Routes”; “Contemporary Practices”; “Preparation and Training”; “Physicality and the Word”; “Bodies and Cultures”), the books may be used in relation to one another or stand alone as individual texts.

Random Acts Of Violence: Bringing John Cage’S Chance Techniques To Fight Choreography And Stage Combatant Acting, T. Fulton Burns

T. Fulton Burns

The concept of chance utilized by John Cage is a frightening, exciting, and liberating process for any artist. It was so effective that other musical artists such as Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and Christian Wolff used it. In the world of theatre these concepts are constantly used today by the Neo-Futurists in Chicago and New York in their production of Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind and by Improv Troupes throughout the country.

Dueling With Spt Questions: Members Of The College Of Fight Masters Share Their Ideas For Skills Proficiency Tests, T. Fulton Burns

T. Fulton Burns

As the rehearsal process grows closer and closer to the Skills Proficiency Test (SPT) common questions arise regarding what is needed in order to pass. Many of these questions involve the same basic idea – “What are the Fight Masters looking for so that I can pass the test?”, but the most important question that is asked is – “Do you think I will pass?”

I Can’T – I Have Rehearsal: Rehearsal Guidelines And Techniques With Fight Scene Work, T. Fulton Burns

T. Fulton Burns

The rehearsal process often contains excitement, uncertainty, and, at times, stress for all involved. It is at this stage of the process where the culmination of skills acquired (research, character study, and embodying choreography) all come together. The following guidelines and techniques are aimed toward helping the actor address and conquer both acting and fight needs during the rehearsal process

A Violent Character: Stage Combat Character Analysis, T. Fulton Burns

T. Fulton Burns

It is so deceptively easy stating who your character is but it is over looked more often than you may think. A good character analysis is important in the actor/character relationship and here we will look at the key elements of character research and their specific relationships to the stage combatant.

Center For Art & Theater News, Georgia Southern University

Center for Art & Theater News (2008-2021)

• 'All Things at Once' visiting artist exhibition opens on Statesboro Campus

Center For Art & Theater News, Georgia Southern University

Center for Art & Theater News (2008-2021)

• Interdisciplinary artist Raheleh Filsoofi visits Georgia Southern; exhibition opens Oct. 21 in Statesboro

Little Shop Of Horrors (October 9-12, 2019), Howard Ashman

Student Theatre Programs

Program for Little Shop of Horrors (October 9-12, 2019).

To view the photos from this production of Little Shop of Horrors, please click here.

W;T - October 2019, Messiah College

Theatre and Dance Productions

Written by Margaret Edson

Directed by Edward Cohn

Margaret Edson’s powerfully imagined Pulitzer Prize–winning play examines what makes life worth living through her exploration of one of existence’s unifying experiences—mortality—while she also probes the vital importance of human relationships.

Climenhaga Building Poorman Black Box Theater

October 3-5, 8 p.m.; Oct. 6, 3 p.m.

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime: A Tenure Project, Drew Schmidt

Faculty Tenure Papers

No abstract provided.

Acting Is Reacting; Acting Is Coping?, Oceana Marie Dunsire

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This paper seeks to explore how learning acting techniques might help to improve one’s relationship with their own mental health. Students are a vulnerable population when it comes to anxiety and depression, and acquiring the skills to recognize and cope with such disabilities could go a long way toward ensuring their health and success throughout higher education and beyond. The topic is explored through compiling and comparing various essays and books which cover esteemed psychiatric and acting techniques, in addition to personal reflection from the author, a graduate of Western Washington University’s acting program.

The Comedy Of Errors, Diane C. Merchant, Rebekah Priebe, Tim Phipps, Rebecca M. Baker, Jonathan R. Sabo

Theatre Productions

This earliest of Shakespeare’s comedies is set in the ancient Greek town of Ephesus, where two sets of brothers had been separated in infancy during a tragic shipwreck long ago. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio arrive in town, not knowing that it is the home of Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio. Ephesian law forbids anyone from Syracuse to come into the town, and if caught doing so, will be put to death unless able to pay an enormous ransom. Egeon, father of the Antipholus twins, convinces the ruler of Ephesus to give him one day to …

An Open Spot For All: Theatre Within Disabled Communities, Kailey Kyle

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This essay describes tools for unlocking accessibility in theatre, specifically for those within the disabled community. Throughout my own research in accessible theatre, and the research reviewed within this paper, it is seen that inclusive theatre yields a multitude of positive benefits for those involved, both emotionally and socially. Throughout my experience with OpenSpot Theatre, an accessible theatre company that teaches drama classes in areas throughout the United States, I learn methods to implement accessibility in theatrical settings using devised theatre, affinity therapy, and applied theatre techniques. Within this thesis, I describe my experience with accessible theatre, OpenSpot theatre, and …

Rewriting Greek Tragedies As Immigrant Stories, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

In this piece originally published in the New York Times, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner writes about Mojada, Luis Alfaro's adaptation of the Greek tragedy, Medea. Mojada is part of a trilogy from Alfaro that attempts to bring his Latino community into modern theater by writing them into classical plays.

Theatre & Performance, Crisis & Survival, Kim Solga

Department of English Publications

In this introduction, guest editor Kim Solga reflects on the origins of the issue, details its scope, offers grounding definitions of ‘neoliberalism’ and ‘the neoliberal university’, and charts one possible way forward, in hope.

Las Seis Dimensiones De La Ciencia Ficción Española, Miguel A. Fernández Delgado Mafd

Alambique. Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasía / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

Reseña de Historia de la ciencia ficción en la cultura española, editada por Teresa López-Pellisa. Madrid: Iberoamericana, Vervuert, La Casa de la Riqueza, Estudios de la Cultura de España 44, 2018. 523p; la cual aborda la historia de la literatura, el teatro, el cine, la televisión, la poesía y la narrativa gráfica en España

Conceiving A “Veneration For Clowns ”: Popular Amusement And Social Subversion In The Novels Of Charles Dickens, Abigail Palmisano

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the immense popularity of common street amusements in the Victorian era, the allocation of leisure time to the venue of ribald diversions was often deprecated by moralists. In argument that theatrics depicting bawdy and often violent scenes would invite undesirable

behavior into the habits of their audience, moralists decried the participation of such amusements amongst the common people. In the Oxford Reader’s Companion to Dickens, Peter Schlicke states that “in the anxious debates in much of Victorian middle-class and religious world about the moral legitimacy of this or that form of leisure the underlying assumption was that leisure should …

An April Anarchy: Non-Realist Dramaturgical Approaches To Christopher Fry’S The Lady’S Not For Burning, Molly S. Mclean

Honors Program Theses

The author uncovers historical approaches and contexts of Christopher Fry's The Lady's Not for Burning to justify recommendations for future productions. She argues that this play can be successful through non-realist dramaturgy, as the rise of absurdism and kitchen-sink dramas in England in the years following the play's debut prioritized realism and image over language. Language is the key to The Lady's Not for Burning and only through using image, collective ownership of the text, and unified aesthetics will an audience today be able to enjoy The Lady's Not for Burning. The author posits these recommendations and justifications in …

Love The Art In Yourself: Empowering Actors To Honestly, Comfortably, And Successfully Embody Their Characters, Alyssa Germaine

Honors Program Theses and Projects

As an actor, I have performed in more than twenty plays and worked with ten different directors over the years. The outcomes of these performances have varied, and so has the effectiveness of the different approaches I have experienced. As an early career director, I am working to find my own creative voice as well as my personal style of directing and communicating with actors. The purpose of this process is to address the relationship between the actor and the director and how this can best serve a production from the rehearsal process and into performances. A director’s initial role …