Other Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Between Body And Spirit: An Interview With Leszek Bzdyl, Barbara Świąder

Mime Journal

Barbara Świąder interviews Leszek Bzdyl, the artistic director of Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre, a dance theatre company that operates on the borderline of artforms. Bzdyl describes his evolution as a dancer, how he started the company with Katarzyna Chmielewska, how Dada’s plays are developed, and his artistic influences, including Jerzy Grotowski. He also assesses the contemporary Polish dance and alternative theatre scenes.

Introduction: Grotowski's Evolving Influence In Poland, Kathleen Cioffi

Mime Journal

In this introduction, Kathleen Cioffi discusses the physical basis of Jerzy Grotowski’s practice and describes how it developed through the various stages of his career, from the Laboratory Theatre stage to the Art as vehicle stage. She also surveys Grotowski’s Polish reception, including various controversies surrounding his work, and analyzes the evolution of his influence on several generations of physical theatre practitioners in Poland.

The Notebooks Of Rena Mirecka, Zbigniew Osiński

Mime Journal

Rena Mirecka, Jerzy Grotowski’s leading actress, kept notebooks detailing her experiences in the early years of Grotowski’s Laboratory Theatre, 1959–1964, when the theatre was in Opole. The notebooks—appearing here in English translation for the first time—provide a record of the development of Grotowski’s working method, as well as the development of Mirecka herself, from a naïve young near-amateur to a maturer actress whom Grotowski designated as the leader responsible for the “plastic” exercises in the Laboratory Theatre company.

Front Matter, Contents - Grotowski And His Legacy In Poland, Kathleen Cioffi

Mime Journal

No abstract provided.

Jerzy Grotowski In Copenhagen: Three Encounters With The Sage, Juliusz Tyszka

Mime Journal

Juliusz Tyszka describes Jerzy Grotowski’s three appearances at the the Tenth Session of the International School of Theatre Anthropology (ISTA), which took place in Copenhagen, May 3–8, 1996. Grotowski describes various key concepts in his work. He also relates the early stages of both his life and his work with the Laboratory Theatre to the work he was doing in the 1990s at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards in Pontedera, Italy.

Madness And Method: Improvisation In The Theatre Of The Eighth Day, Lech Raczak

Mime Journal

Lech Raczak, the director of the Theatre of the Eighth Day for twenty-five years, describes the method of physical improvisation derived from Jerzy Grotowski that the troupe used to create productions. The Eighth Day used Grotowski’s methods to create productions that were very different in tone and content from those that Grotowski’s Laboratory Theatre created. They became famous for their stance of opposition to the Communist regime.

Challenge, Chaos, And Collaboration: Two Weeks With Studium Teatralne, Katharine Noon

Mime Journal

Katharine Noon, the artistic director of the Ghost Road Company, a Los Angeles theatre troupe, describes Ghost Road’s collaboration with Studium Teatralne, a Warsaw theatre company headed by Piotr Borowski, a former collaborator with Jerzy Grotowski at the Workcenter. Borowski and the Studium Teatralne actors work in a more athletic physical way than the American actors typically do, and the Americans learned this method from the Warsaw actors. The Warsaw group also gained from the collaboration, however: Ghost Road hosted them when they came to Los Angeles to perform, and they also learned Ghost Road’s methods for adapting texts.

Play From The Heart: On Crafting A Community Of Empathy In The Theatre, Kevin Kingston

The Theatre School MFA in Directing Theses

The power of story goes beyond mere escapist entertainment. Yes it should entertain, but that is not the ultimate goal. It may even offer a bit of escape, but again this is not the holy grail. When we experience a well-crafted narrative, we are called to cross a threshold. We pass through the door of our own life and enter into the experience of another. This is what we mean when we say we "got lost" in the story. We take on the experience of another as our own. When a group of people experience a narrative they cross this …

A Method To The Madness: My Quest For A New System Of Acting, Michael Osinski

The Theatre School MFA in Directing Theses

How does one get actors to embrace work and imbue it with the same truth they bring to realistic theatre and how does one prevent them from turning into robots performing meaningless gestures? How does one work in experimental ways while still giving actors something human to hang onto? This thesis will examine a new system of acting to embrace the demands of the work and explore how to articulate and collaborate with actors to create the work.

Multi-Timescale Dynamics Of Land Surface Temperature, Peng Fu

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spatial and temporal patterns of land surface temperature (LST) have been used in studies of surface energy balance, landscape thermal patterns and water management. An effective way to investigate the landscape thermal dynamics is to utilize the Landsat legacy and consistent records of the thermal state of earth’s surface since 1982. However, only a small proportion of studies emphasize the importance of historical Landsat TIR data for investigating the relationship between the urbanization process and surface thermal properties. This occurred due to the lack of standardized LST product from Landsat and the unevenly distributed remote sensing datasets caused by poor …

Re-Enchanting The Spectacle, Shayna Cohn

Graduate School of Art Theses

“Re-Enchanting the Spectacle” explores guiding notions and central themes within the art practice of Shayna Cohn. Cohn’s installation spaces and sculptures within them, evoke a type of fabricated aura and melodramatic attitude of entertainment sites. By isolating the affect outside of the original environment, Cohn references the perceptual duality of entertainment sites within this “post-sacred” era. Entertainment venues become sites of potential transcendence, yet are also inextricably tied to their automated mechanization. Drawing on the Peter Brooks’ analysis of the historical and poetic relationship between melodrama and the sacred, Cohn argues that contemporary notions of melodrama can be found within …

On And Off The Stage: An Analysis Of Dance In Theater And Performance, Michael Chiaverini

Dance Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

A Qualitative Study Of Nursing Living-Learning Communities, Renee Noel Bauer

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Living-learning communities, although not a novel concept, have been known to promote student performance and a sense of collegiality. Because nursing is essential to the medical profession, nursing student retention and pass rates are of paramount importance. Attrition tends to happen to nursing students in their first formative years (Newton & Moore, 2009). Therefore, this study was conducted to explore findings associated with living arrangements and residential factors promoting and deterring retention. Although most studies on this topic have utilized quantitative methods, this qualitative comparative case study, involving two universities in Indiana during the winter of 2014, examined the personal …

Student Directing Thesis: Directing A Main Stage Show, Brock J. Cooley Mr.

Undergraduate Honors Theses

My thesis gives insight on directing a main stage production at the collegiate level as a student. Specifically directing Tradin’ Paint, an original piece from playwright Catherine Bush a native of Abingdon Virginia, and a company playwright for the Barter Theatre. In the thesis I discuss how I arrived at different conclusions for my show through different research. I discuss the experience of being a director over professors, and my own peers, and how all of these challenges and discoveries eventually gave me a finished product to be proud of. If a director were to look at this work, they …

No Day But Today--Choreographing Rent, Grace Goodwin

Dance Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

Silence: A Technical Direction Project, Matthew Rightmire

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

The Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film opened its 2013-14 mainstage season with the play Silence in the Studio Theatre on October 10, 2013. This thesis project encompasses the Technical Direction of Silence. As the Technical Director, I was responsible for the budgeting of time, people, and money necessary to plan, organize, construct, and load into the theatre all the scenic elements required for the performance. Duties included purchasing materials, drafting construction drawings, and leading shop crews in the individual processes to create each scenic element as well as modifying the house seating equipment to accommodate the scenic …

Gender Confusion, Genocide And The Apocalypse: Directing Moira Buffini's Silence, Dennis N. Henry

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis contains the written documentation of the process of directing a theatrical production of Silence by Moira Buffini, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Master of Fine Arts in Directing for Stage and Screen at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

This documentation and analysis of the processes herein include: play selection, background research, concept development, casting, rehearsal process, development of design elements and evaluation based on critical response, audience reception and self-reflection.

Advisor: Virginia Smith

The Fight Master, Spring 2014, Vol. 36 Issue 1, The Society Of American Fight Directors

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Mystical And Metaphysical In The Mundane: Directing Middletown, Joshua S. Waterstone

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis contains written documentation regarding the process of directing a theatrical production in fulfillment of the partial requirements for Master of Fine Arts in Directing for Stage and Screen at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

Topics addressed include play selection, script analysis, director/designer collaboration, coaching of actors and evaluation of final product.

Advisor: Virginia Smith

Mrs. Mannerly: An Illuminating Look At Lighting Melodrama, Clayton Van Winkle

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis describes the research and production processes of the lighting design for the play, Mrs. Mannerly by Jeffrey Hatcher, performed in the Studio Theatre, repertory style, from July 19^th through August 10^th at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska. Mrs. Mannerly was directed by Rob Urbinati. Clayton Van Winkle acted as the production's lighting designer, Laurel C. Shoemaker designed the set, Sharon Sobel designed the costumes, Mike Smith designed the sound, Erica King acted as the props mistress, and Chris Stepanek was the acting technical director.

This thesis contains the …