Theatre History Commons^™

Ridiculous Geographies: Mapping The Theatre Of The Ridiculous As Radical Aesthetic, Kelly Aliano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a comprehensive study of the artists associated with the Theatre of the Ridiculous. The discussion begins with Charles Ludlam, the most famous practitioner of the form and then extends to artists with whom he collaborated, including Jack Smith, the Play-House of the Ridiculous, Ethyl Eichelberger, and Charles Busch. The argument traces the overlapping aesthetic qualities of all of these theatre practitioners; they all shared a reverence for popular culture of the twentieth century; they all blended references from high and low culture in their dramaturgy; and they all created performances that took a unique approach to cross-dressed …

Sweet Charity, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2014-2015 Season

Charity Hope Valentine always tries to look on the bright side of life, despite working in a rundown dance hall and contending with a seemingly endless run of bad dates. Determined to find love, Charity falls for suave actor Vittorio Vidal, but their romance is all too brief. However, when Charity finds herself stuck in an elevator with the reserved Oscar Lindquist, it turns out that she may have finally met her match.

Wit

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2014 performance of Wit by Margaret Edson.

Wit (or W;t) takes place over the final hours of Dr. Vivian Bearing, a university English professor, who is dying of Ovarian cancer. The course of the play is her reflecting on her life through the intricacies of the English language, particularly focusing on the wit found in the poetry of John Donne.

In this program the Jason Francis Memorial Scholarship Fund is announced.

The Well Of Horniness Program, University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2014-2015 Season

A comedic radio play by Holly Hughes

Directed by Meghan Brodie

This production was a Participating entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KC/ACTF).

Nineteenth Century Views On Theater And Drama In English, Rebecca Unetic

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

With the passing of the Licensing Act of 1737 and until its repeal in 1969 the Lord Chamberlain’s office has been legally able to censor any drama to be performed at established theatres in England. However, the 1737 Act left inconsistencies in the definition of censorship and the role of censor. People who were involved in theatre believed the Lord Chamberlain’s office gained too much power from the Act. In the nineteenth century, actors, playwrights and members of Parliament agitated for the reform of the 1737 Licensing Act, which led to the establishment of three special parliamentary committees in 1822-1823, …

2014 - 2015 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

Searching For Something A Little Visionary: Anthony Nikolchev Interviews Matej Matejka, Director Of The Studio Matejka, Anthony Nikolchev

Mime Journal

Anthony Nikolchev, an American actor studying and performing under the auspices of the Studio Matejka, a resident group at the Grotowski Institute in Poland, interviews Matej Matejka, the director of Studio Matejka. Matejka is a Slovak actor, teacher, and director who started the Studio in order to work with a dedicated group of multinational performers to explore physical approaches to acting and performance. Matejka and his actors search for intuitive, energetic exchange rather than just explanation or interpretation.

Actor Training And Techniques In Pieśń Kozła Theatre, Anna Zubrzycki

Mime Journal

Anna Zubrzycki, one of the founders of the Pieśń Kozła (Song of the Goat) Theatre, describes the working methods of the theatre, which seeks to develop the the actor’s tools—text, song, rhythm, physicality, spatial relations—and to help actors coordinate those tools with each other and with the text through physical and vocal exercises. They also work on the actors’ ability to respond to each other’s impulses in a physical way. Zubrzycki also describes five of the productions that Song of the Goat has created using this physical/vocal method of creation.

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.

Dames At Sea, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2014 Summer Theatre

When talented young hopeful Ruby arrives in New York City with nothing but a pair of tap shoes in her suitcase, she is determined to break into show business. She stumbles into the cast of troubled show “Dames at Sea”, in which broke and pessimistic producer Hennesey is terrorized by Mona Kent, the aggressive, seductive, and surprisingly shady leading lady. Dames at Sea is a light, bright, and hilariously tuneful homage to the glamorous and hopeful movie musicals of the 1930s. https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/2374/dames-at-sea

The 39 Steps, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2014 Summer Theatre

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have the intriguing, thrilling, riotous and unmissable comedy. The show hurtles a notorious fugitive and a spellbound blonde from a London music hall north by northwest to Scotland’s most remote highlands. Will they save Britain from a den of devious spies? A cast of four actors plays over 150 characters in this fast-paced tale of an ordinary man on an extraordinarily entertaining adventure. The 39 Steps contains every single legendary scene from the award-winning movie — including the chase on the Flying Scotsman, …

The Fantasticks, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2014 Summer Theatre

Whimsical, poignant, and romantic, The Fantasticks is an allegorical story that focuses on two young lovers, their meddling fathers, and the journey we all must take through adolescent thrills, the growing pains of hurt and betrayal, the highs of passion, the challenges of distance, and the agonies of heartbreak to discover how to truly love. The Fantasticks is a gem of the American musical theatre. Featuring timeless classics like “Try to Remember” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain,” this simple and beautiful ensemble piece is as beloved and as timely as it was when it opened over 50 years ago. https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/1377/the-fantasticks

Opening Remarks To Outing Lorraine At The Schomburg Center, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This article is an edit of the opening remarks for the event held on May 22nd, 2014 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as part of the In The Life Series supplying Black LGBT programming coordinated by Steven Fullwood. Outing Lorraine included panelists: Alexis DeVeaux, Joi Gresham, and Steven Fullwood and was moderated by Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz. Opening remarks provide a biographical description of Lorraine Hansberry's life, prepare the audience for a conversation on the implications for "outing" a black iconic figure, details the purpose for use of primary and secondary sources when, and provides a bibliography for …

How To Tame A Shrew (11 Things I Hate About Her) An Actor's Method To Characterizing Petruchio In The Taming Of The Shrew, Robert J. Facio

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Taming of the Shrew is an early comedy that exposes the oddities we take for granted: curious conventions, wild assumptions, gender roles, relationships, social status, fashion, and everything else we know so defectively. The given circumstances of the script and Petruchio are specific in choice, yet broad in interpretation. Petruchio, the catalyst behind Katherine’s character arc, needed to not only be believable in his ways, but likeable by the audience.

This thesis examines the process required to successfully develop and bring to life the character of Petruchio to our modern audience. It includes historical background information on William Shakespeare …