Playwriting Commons^™

Poor Relations: An Original Play By Robert Flaherty Hart, Robert Flaherty Hart

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation is to present my play, Poor Relations, to my thesis committee and discuss both the process of bringing it to the stage and the results of that process.

The dissertation opens with a narrative essay detailing the process of writing Poor Relations and bringing it to the stage in a full production. It discusses my initial idea for the play, the original draft and changes made after input from those at informal readings. It pays particular attention to the changes that were made during the rehearsal process for the full production.

Following is a copy …

Through A Glass Darkly: Defining Love In A Nation Of Tolerance, Jonathan T. Hogue

Senior Honors Theses

This paper features an original one-act drama Through a Glass Darkly and analyzes its constructs and themes. The play, written in the contemporary style, depicts the tension between homosexuals and Christians in American culture through emphasizing the contrasting interpretations of love between both communities. It tells the story of Ben, a young gay man struggling to find fulfillment, whose new-found friendship with a Christian named Adam causes him to reevaluate his understanding of love. The play explores the variations of love in an attempt to not only answer what love truly means, but rather what form of love carries the …

"Debate: Millennials Don't Stand A Chance" Devised, Documentary And Immersive Theatre: The Story Of Everymillennial, Sean R. Byrne

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This thesis aims to discover how communitas can be created through theatrical performances by blurring the line between audience and performer as well as performer and character. The topic of the Millennial generation is used as a thematic element in performance to emphasize the creation of community. A theatrical form will be introduced, called the “Living Biography:” a method of devising based on devising, documentary, and immersive theatre. This form will be shown as one possible option in creating communitas in a performance. While other forms of audience inclusion are frequently used, it will be argued that the “Living Biography” …

Fragmenting Kill/Shot, Rachel Washington

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In "Fragmenting Kill/Shot", I will explore how my play Kill/Shot changed over the course of the rehearsal and production process. I will explain and defend stylistic choices I made for this play, including how the others on the production team interpreted those stylistic choices. Finally, I will explore how changes to the script can help protect the play from being misinterpreted in the future.

Existing On Earth And Stage: Exploring Human Relationships With Ecosystems Through Performance, Julia Stephanie Levine

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

"You're on Earth. There's no cure for that," says the character Hamm, in Samuel Beckett's Endgame. The stage offers a unique lens through which to explore the reality of human existence on Earth, sharing the behaviors of characters in imagined circumstances with audiences. My honors thesis production, GAIA: an eco-theatre project explores human relationships with the environment and comes out of research conducted during the 2014 Butler Summer Institute. My thesis project began by raising the following questions: How do we impact the environment, and how do we react to changes in our ecosystems? What do our actions in our …

L’Anar I Venir Dels Dramaturgs Catalans: Un Nou Cosmopolitisme, Sharon G. Feldman

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

La conjunció entre viatges i traducció ha estat un baròmetre habitual de la vitalitat del panorama teatral català. A Catalunya la mobilitat acostuma a ser sinònim de prestigi, i l'èxit en teatre sovint es mesura en funció de l'abast i el reconeixement internacionals. A més a més, en el cas dels dramaturgs que escriuen en català, sempre conscients de la precària situació de la seva llengua i la seva identiat cultural, la posició paradoxal tant de distància com de proximitat política que mantenen amb Espanya n'ha accentuat, potser, l'anhel de pertànyer a una efera global més gran.

My Heart Is In The East: Exploring Theater As A Vehicle For Change, Inspired By The Poetic Performances Of Ancient Andalucía, Jessica Litwak

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study addresses the research question “How Do I Inspire Personal and Social Change Through My Theater Practice?” I implement the theory and practice of H.E.A.T., a fusion theater system, combining use of theater arts as healing practice, educational asset, activist tool, and an art form.I research different ways that theater can affect change, focusing specifically on the use of history in performance.I dramatically interpret a period of history where performance and poetry contributed to change.I utilize qualitative methods including performance ethnography, auto ethnography, arts-based research, and historical research.I describe the fieldwork in conflict zones in the Middle East, which …