Theatre History Commons^™

How Drag Culture Resolves Tensions In Victorian Shakespearean Cross-Dressing; Or, Slay, Feste, Slay, Isaac Robertson

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

In 2017, Madame Le Gateau Chocolat, a black drag queen, sashayed onto the stage of the Globe theater to portray Feste in Emma Rice’s production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. This bold move not only gave anxiety to its investors (eventually leading to the stepping down of Emma Rice), but also raised questions about the validity of drag performance within Shakespeare plays. Shakespeare has historically been inseparable with traditional cross-dressing (both in performance and in the narrative itself), although the relationship has not always been cordial. In Victorian England, cross-dressing was often set equal to homosexuality or moral deviance, and …

Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Changing The Social Order, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

Daniel Pollack-Pelzner views the first four plays of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2018 season (Karen Zacarías's Destiny of Desire, Kate Hamill's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, Othello, and Henry V) as expressions of social change.

A Man Of No Importance Program, University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2017-2018 Season

Music by Stephen Flaherty

Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens

Book by Terrence McNally

Directed by Cary Libkin

Musical Direction by Ed Reichert

Choreography by Vanessa Beyland

In Memoriam Minor R. Rootes

In Memoriam Walter Ray Stump

An Historical Analysis Of The Relationship Between Organized Religion And Dramatic Theory, Emily Bubeck

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Theatre artists and organized religion both use the same tactics and strategies in order to connect to their audiences. This isn’t a coincidence: Over the course of human history organized religion and performance traditions developed, grew and evolved together. Performance practices grew out of religious traditions and often incorporated elements of spiritual celebration and religious ritual into their practices. In ancient Greece dramatic practices developed as a celebration of the god Dionysus, Sanskrit theatre of Ancient India evolved as a means of communicating Hindu myths to the masses and Noh theatre of ancient Japan started as shamanistic dance traditions. During …

Why We Must Die So Young: The Story Of The White Rose Martyrs

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Why We Must Die So Young: The Story of the White Rose Martyrs by William Gebby.

Performed February 23-25, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.

During the darkest days of WWII, a handful of German college students distributed thousands of anti-Nazi leaflets and worked toward unifying resistance across Germany. They called themselves the White Rose, and their faith drew them to engage in a fight that would cost them their lives. William Gebby’s brand new play celebrates the lives of these brave young people who would not and will not be silent. The TU …

Diary Of Anne Frank, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

2017-2018 Season

"I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself and then I am satisfied. I know that I'm a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage."

Anne Frank

Stanislavsky Inspired Acting Lessons For Life And Leadership, Harrison O. Long Prof.

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

An artist’s creative work can become the primary lens through which he or she sees the world; it is a fundamental tool for interpreting life. But artistry can also teach a great deal about effective leadership. Based on the principles of Konstantin Stanislavsky, the father of modern acting, this essay reflects on five important lessons for life and leadership: The Power of Purpose, The Power of Context, The Power of Listening, The Power of Partnerships, and The Power of Community. After a year of studying Russian culture, history, and foreign policy, I believe these lessons can be applied on the …

Guide To The Jeff Ginsberg Collection, Columbia College Chicago

Collection Guides / Finding Aids

This guide describes the organization and scope of the Jeff Ginsberg collection, housed within the College Archives & Special Collections at Columbia College Chicago. The collection holds production notebooks for plays he directed at Columbia College Chicago from 1992 to 2017 and in local theaters from 1990 to 2013. It also contains posters for several productions in which he directed or performed in Chicago, Illinois from 1986 to 2010.

Theology, Phenomenology, And The Divine In King Lear, Kent R. Lehnhof

English Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In what follows, then, I would like to think through Levinas's ideas on transcendence and ethics in such a way as to map out a new pathway for approaching Shakespeare's great tragedy. As unorthodox as it may sound, I propose to shed light on the darkling religiosity of King Lear by turning-not to the theological doctrines of early modem Christians-but to the postmodern ethics of a twentieth-century Jew."

An American Myth In The (Re)Making: The Timeless Fantasy Appeal Of 'The King And I', Lina Purtscher

Scripps Senior Theses

It is now well-known that The King and I has little claim to truth. Recent research has exposed the inaccuracy of the “biographical” works on which the musical is based: Anna Leonowens invented many things about her personal background and experiences. Much of her life, then, is a contrived fantasy. Yet her life of fantasy has been resurrected in countless adaptations, including the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and its 2015 revival production, that ceaselessly draw audiences. The fascination of American audiences with Anna’s tale lies their belief in the timeless American ideals that her fantasy employs: those of freedom …

Technical Direction Of Little Women, The Musical, Matt Gilbertson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This document is a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre. It is a written account of the author Matthew A. Gilbertson's process in creating the technical direction of Minnesota State University, Mankato's production of Little Women, The Musical in the fall of 2017. This document details the process from pre-production to completion of the production. It includes a historical chapter discussing the history of moving scenery and the role it has played shaping modern theatre machines. It also contains a process journal and developmental analysis of the technical director. Appendices and works …

The Directing Of Melanie Marnich's These Shining Lives, Kristin Fox

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of Master of the Fine Arts degree in theatre. It is a detailed account of author Kristin N. Fox's directorial process in directing the play These Shining Lives in the fall of 2017. This thesis chronicles the director's process from pre-production through performance in five chapters: a pre-production analysis, a historical and critical perspective, a rehearsal and performance journal, a post-production analysis and a process development analysis. Appendices and works cited are included.

An Embodied Analysis Of Humankind's Development And History As Viewed Through Our Art And Theatre, Mikayla Burr

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Our theatre practices are just as diverse and rich as everything else in our history and often are products of the climate in which they are created. Medieval European churches utilized the stage to convey their truths to peasants and church services can be described as nothing less than a spectacle. Complete with flying set and prop pieces and grand entrances with echoing chants made for quite a sight. In this way theatre was a teaching tool. In Native American ritual practices, the dances and chanting were often meant to bring upon a literal climate change, asking the spirits to …

Struggling Toward An American National Theatre, Rebecca Ann Soderna

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The United States is conspicuously lacking in a large-scale government subsidy program for the arts and has never established a National Theatre. This makes us unique among most developed nations in the world as well as among many developing countries that established national theatres early in their burgeoning histories, and it begs the question: why has government support of the cultural life of the nation never been a priority in the U.S.? One notable exception to this can be found in considering the work accomplished by the Federal Arts Projects created under the auspices of the Work Progress Administration (WPA) …

Splitting Hair: Reviving The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical In The 1970s, Bryan M. Vandevender

Faculty Journal Articles

When Hair premiered on Broadway in 1968, the musical garnered attention

for its reflection the current cultural moment. Critics acknowledged

this congruence of form, content, and zeitgeist as the production’s greatest

asset. This alignment with the Vietnam era proved a liability nine

years later when Hair received its first Broadway revival, particularly

when the musical’s authors replaced many of the libretto’s cultural references

with allusions to the 1970s, further illuminating the musical’s

inherently time-bound qualities.

The Costume Design Of Little Women The Musical, Emily Kimball

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This document is a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre. It is an account of the author Emily Kimball's artistic process in creating and executing the design for Minnesota State University, Mankato's production of Little Women the Musical in the fall of 2017. The thesis chronicles the designer's process from early production through construction and performance in a total of five chapters: an early production analysis, a historical and critical perspective, a journal, a post-production analysis and a process development analysis. Appendices and works cited are included.

Paul Ibell: Tennessee Williams, Verna Foster

Department of Fine & Performing Arts: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A review of Paul Ibell's Tennessee Williams, written by Verna Foster.

One-Third Of A Nation, The Second Amendment, A Living Newspaper Play, Linda Ann Watt

Theses and Dissertations

One-Third of a Nation, the Second Amendment, a Living Newspaper Play

Thesis By Linda Ann Watt for a MFA Degree in Theatre Pedagogy

Documentary theatre, including living newspapers and verbatim theatre, use socio-political commentary at critical moments in history to disseminate facts and offer ideological critique dramatizing the crisis through the lens of emotion, which can incite societal change. This thesis explores this didactic medium with a written play about the second Amendment and gun violence.

A Dramaturgical Exploration: Setting Oliver Goldsmith’S She Stoops To Conquer In Post-Civil War Virginia, Amanda Ward

Senior Honors Theses

A reputable theatrical company will hire a dramaturg to implement historical research and to provide reputable information where the director or staff desires it. They ensure that the play’s elements are as truthful to the time period as possible and aid in a performance’s overall success. If a theatrical company were to set Oliver Goldsmith’s play She Stoops to Conquer in 1870 Virginia, it could strengthen the play’s underlying religious, political, and cultural elements.

The paper is comprised of seven sections: a biography of the playwright, a religious exploration, a political analysis, a cultural comparison, a delineation of suggested script …

From The Romans To The Normans On The English Renaissance Stage, Lisa Hopkins

Early Drama, Art, and Music

This book examines the late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century engagement with a crucial part of Britain's past, the period between the withdrawal of the Roman legions and the Norman Conquest. This was a period that saw both Arthur and Alfred, as well as Hengist, Horsa, and Canute. The country was converted to Christianity and saw successive waves of invasions by Angles, Jutes, and Danes, which left both a mark on the language and a record in the physical landscape. By its end, the British Isles had been transformed beyond recognition, and yet a number of early modern plays suggest an …