Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons^™

Strike A Note Of Wonder: A Director's Adventures In Peter Pan, Brianna A. Sloane

Masters Theses

This written portion of my thesis documents how I, as Director, set about to bring J.M. Barrie’s classic, Peter Pan to the contemporary stage. I take the reader through my in-depth research into Barrie’s many adaptations of his story, seeking an understanding of the evolution of Peter Pan and noting major elements that were retained across time and those that were changed, in search of the “true” story of Peter Pan. I explore how my discoveries informed design choices, were folded into rehearsals, and ultimately arrived on stage.

In seeking the backbone of a classic, the vast interpretive history of …

Antigone Claimed, "I Am A Stranger": Democracy, Membership And Unauthorized Immigration, Andres Fabian Henao Castro

Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation offers a new framework through which to theorize contemporary democratic practices by attending to the political agency of unauthorized immigrants. I argue that unauthorized immigrants themselves, by claiming their own ambiguous legal condition as a legitimate basis for public speech, are able to open up the boundaries of political membership and to render the foundations of democracy contingent, that is to say, they are able to reopen the question about who counts as a member of the demos. I develop this argument by way of a close reading of Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone[1], which allows me to …

Staging Through Rituals: Directorial Exploration Of The Imaginary Invalid, Dora A. Arreola

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis describes how the experimental process of exploring ritual as a foundation for creating contemporary theater can be applied to staging a classical European play, in this case, Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid, adapted by Constance Congdon. Based on research into the influences of Commedia Dell’ Arte in Molière’s plays, the directorial concept of “Mask and Duplicity” influenced all the artistic areas of the production and design (costume, sound, lighting and set). The process described includes the development of a physical vocabulary with the actors, exploring animal movements based on “The Dance of the Deer” (a hunting ritual from the …