Arts and Humanities Commons^™

One Art With Two Sides: Theatre And Performance Art, Jacob Watts

Honors Theses

Theatre is typically a scripted performance, performed by actors within a "Theatre space" and observed by an audience. When capitalized, "Theatre" refers to a field of art and study. It is produced to tell a story, or create meaning. Theatre contains elements of plot and characters, often using the characters to tell a story. Visual performance art is art that focuses on live human performance and defines itself in terms of "visual art" and not in terms of "Theatre performance." Performance art does not always occupy a specific place or use a specific kind of script. It often lacks character, …

Infusing Technology Into The Performing Arts At Cal Poly, Tyler Whipple

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

No abstract provided.

10,000 Words: Creating And Subverting The Theatrical Process For Personal Insights And Practical Application, Dimitar Christo Venkov

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Scenic Design For Neil Labute's The Shape Of Things, Barbara L. Mcgowan

Theses

The Shape of Things is not a play that would use a traditional box set. The biggest challenge was trying to create and then draft a non-traditional set that could be used for ten distinct locations. This paper is an analysis of the play from the perspective of a scenic designer. It includes past production information, an in-depth look at how religion affects the story and a journal following the show from design to strike. The appendices included various images rejected and/or used for the projection screens, design plans used for construction and photos from the production.

The Shape Of Things: One Director's Journey From Script To Final Dress, Lyndsay Somers Hicks

Theses

The purpose of this written thesis is to document my journey. as the director, from script to final dress rehearsal; after that the performance belongs to the actors and technical crew. During this journey I collaborated with a team of designers, artists and a mentor. I opened my mind and my experience to their expertise, leadership and artistic license. ln this documentation is my concept. my vision, my heart, and my process step-by-step resulting in the performance that I humbly present as my interpretation of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things.

Performing Taboo: The Creation Of An Aesthetic Through The Exploration Of Censorship In Theatre And The Challenges Of Directing Killer Joe, David Todd Zimmerman

Theses and Dissertations

This document explores the performance of taboo on the stage. The exploration is focused around the establishment of my personal aesthetic, which was developed through my studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Starting with my first trip to Broadway, my journey goes through the class work that I did at VCU and the two plays that I did on the Shafer Street Alliance Laboratory Theatre stage: my performance and use of latex costumes in Funnyhouse of a Negro, and my direction and the troubles with producing Killer Joe. The exploration concludes with a look at the theatre in parts of Virginia …

A Christmas Carol (November 29-30, December 1-2, 2012), Charles Dickens

Student Theatre Programs

Program for A Christmas Carol (November 29-30, December 1-2, 2012).

To view the photos from this production of A Christmas Carol, please click here.

The Glass Menagerie Program [2012], University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2012-2013 Season

By Tennessee Williams

Directed by Thomas Power

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

A Man Of No Importance (October 12-13, 18-20, 2012), Terrence Mcnally

Student Theatre Programs

Program for A Man of No Importance (October 12-13, 18-20, 2012).

Romeo And Juliet, Courtney Mohler

Scholarship and Professional Work – Arts

No abstract provided.

You Can't Take It With You Program, University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2012-2013 Season

By George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Directed by Wil Kilroy

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

The Gods Come For Play: Visualizing The Divine In Balinese Theatre, Chandler Payne, John Park

Featured Research

Playwrights, practitioners, and art historians have been shocked and inspired by Balinese theatre time and time again because it reveals the extent of devotion the Balinese have for their religion. Although many researchers have investigated the functionality through the performance aspect of the play, there is a lack of published research devoted how the functionality of the ritual and play are influenced by the physical aesthetic properties of the Barong and Rangda mask. The theatrical aspects are to be considered through investigating these masks in relation to the temple space of the Taman Aran. By investigating the aesthetic properties of …

Over The River And Through The Woods, Diane C. Merchant, Robert Clements, Rebecca M. Baker

Theatre Productions

Twenty-eight year old Nick, an Italian single guy from New Jersey, gets the professional career offer of a lifetime … on the opposite coast from his family. Nick’s traditional Italian grandparents, Frank and Aida and Nunzio and Emma, do their level best to keep their beloved grandson home with them on the East Coast, while a job as a marketing executive calls him to Seattle. Will Nick abandon family to pursue a glamorous and exciting career move, the opportunity he has hoped for? His grandparents wonder if he would stay in New Jersey if he fell in love with a …

The Shape Of Things (September 20-23, 2012), Neil Labute

Student Theatre Programs

Program for the The Shape of Things (September 20-23, 2012).

To view the photos from this production of The Shape of Things, please click here.

8 Program, University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2012-2013 Season

A New Play by Dustin Lance Black

Directed by Wil Kilroy

2012-2013 Production Season Poster, Carrie D. Applegate

Department of Theatre Arts Posters

Poster for 2012-2013 Production Season. Season includes productions of Becoming: An Evening of Short Plays, The Importance of Being Earnest, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Misunderstanding

The Anatomy Of Expression: Explorations On The Intersection Of Acting And The Alexander Technique, Kelley Schoger

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this paper is to illuminate how the principles of the Alexander Technique and the role of bodily systems can serve as a foundational support for actor training. Inclusion of the Alexander Technique in the acting curriculum proves to be an effective tool for bridging the gap between kinesthetic learning and its application to beginning acting training. Starting with the nervous system, the operating principles of the Alexander Technique are discussed through research and personal insights. Next, in light of how self-discovery plays a key role in the first year of actor training, the idea of release in …

Barefoot In The Park, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2012 Summer Theatre

What happens when two very different people fall in love? Paul likes to wear his gloves in the winter and Corie wants to walk barefoot in the park. Mix in the crazy neighbors upstairs, Victor Velasco, who "wears Japanese kimonos and sleeps on rugs" and Corie's mother who "wears a hairnet and sleeps on a board" and expect some complications. Set in 1963, Barefoot in the Park captures the tension between the freedom of the burgeoning 60's and the conventions of the waning 50's. Corie and Victor are pre-hippies, attuned to their libidos and their desire for freedom and adventure. …

Nothing To Be Done: The Active Function Of Samuel Beckett's Text, Deleah Vaye Emery Waters Silva

Theses and Dissertations

Fintan O'Toole states: "Plays survive not by being carefully preserved, not by being exhibited from time to time in theatrical museums, but by being tried and tested, taken apart and reassembled" (Game Without End).One of the great misconceptions and critiques of Samuel Beckett is of his presumed unrelenting control over his works. Artists, hoping to creatively collaborate with Beckett as they move his texts to performance, feel limited by his strict enforcement of that which he has written in his texts. Traditional relationships and functions allow directors to interpret an author's text. Not so with Beckett. Beckett demands …

Noises Off

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2012 performance of Noises Off by Michael Frayn.

Noises Off is a farce involving the small cast of a play and how their offstage drama impacts their onstage drama.

The Conditions Of Production Surrounding “Crawling With Monsters”: A Way To Create Social Consciousness Through Theatre In South Texas, Jorge Augusto Contreras

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Evaluating theatre's actual contribution to social development is subjective. There is a specific field of study that has been born from the need to incorporate all theatre outside the mainstream that seeks to do more than entertain an audience: “Applied Drama” or “Applied Theatre.” This study argues that through the process of creating the play Crawling with Monsters a group of UTPA students were empowered to make social change and ended up doing a critically acclaimed applied drama project regarding Mexico's drug war. After an introduction to the formation of the group and the situation to which it was responding, …

Understanding Experience: Reflections On The Empowering Nature Of Story, Sarah Provencal

Theses and Dissertations

Technological growth has changed our relationships and interactions within society and theatre artists are calling into question the future of our art form. Are we still essential? And if so, how do we renovate our form in order to relate to our changing society? In my experience, I’ve found that all renovations of our art have one thing in common: the empowering nature of story. Story helps us to understand our experiences in life. It is not the self, the cause, or the goal that is behind the wheel, but the story itself. This thesis explores three instances of the …

A Pedagogical Perspective On Storytelling Through Movement And Dance, Penny Maas

Theses and Dissertations

Dance in most musical theatre is an assumed visual element and something that is often taken for granted in production. What is its purpose is the question being pondered in this paper. Since Agnes de Mille first presented her legendary dream ballet in Oklahoma! in 1943, theatrical dance has never been the same. She revolutionized the function of dance in theatre forever. No longer would dance merely be used as interludes or divertissements. Though a seemingly simple theatrical concept, to use movement and choreography to either further the plot or to communicate a character’s journey, it is not only much …

Starting A Standardized Patient Program Using A Theatre Model, Richard Edward Carter

Theses and Dissertations

The methods used to train actors can be modified to train standardized patients to simulate patient encounters with medical students. With some background in standardized patients and simulation, a member of Theatre Department can start a standardized patient program at their own institution. This is based on the pilot year of the VCU Standardized Patient Program which began in June, 2011.

Power And Relationships In The Plays Of Neil Labute: Directing And Performing In Some Girl(S), Mary Peyton Griffith

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the major works of Neil LaBute's career as a playwright and screenwriter, including the criticism he has received on theatrical and literary levels. The themes most prevalent in the thesis are the use of power and manipulation in the relationships between LaBute's characters and the ongoing maturation of his characters that coincides with the maturation of his work. The second section of the thesis follows the production, directing, and acting in LaBute's play Some Girl(s).

A Pilgrim, An Outlaw: Features Of Dramatic Adaptation And Theodore Dreiser’S Sister Carrie, Matt Dicintio

Theses and Dissertations

Although there are countless manuals devoted to playwriting, very few take up the craft of dramatic adaptation in a practical context. My rendering of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie is an exploration of fundamental elements that require consideration when adapting for the stage. My approach to the characters’ inarticulateness reveals an inherent theatricality in the novel, which both respects Dreiser’s themes and makes them accessible through the conventions of the stage. I suggest the craft of dramatic adaptation should strike a delicate balance between being a “pilgrim” toward the intentions of the source and an “outlaw” in its innovative theatrical representation …

Method In Motion: Grounding A Movement Pedagogy In The Lessons Of Stanislavski, Kevin Inouye

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of movement pedagogy as a continuation of basic acting lessons from Stanislavski. Using the example of an introductory semester of movement instruction, physical acting and movement concepts are explained in terms of their connection to and derivation from universally accepted acting terminology and ideas. This is put forth as a way to facilitate the synthesis of movement instruction with other acting curriculum, as well as providing a new way to view some familiar acting concepts. Several specific examples are explored in more depth as case studies in physical equivalents to the intellectual, visual, or emotional …

Performing Tennessee Williams, Augustine Correro Iii

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is dedicated to illustrating the unique challenges of staging works by the playwright Tennessee Williams, and to making suggestions on how to avoid common pitfalls in production, performance, and direction of his plays. It uses evidence from the playwright’s various biographical works as well as insight and conjecture from the author’s experience to illuminate these challenges and help the reader to avoid hackneyed or ineffective staging practices. It touches on the effect of film adaptations on stage performances; the typical portrayal of American Southern characters onstage; the aural ramifications of Williams’s poetry to a now-visually-centered audience; stylistic elements …

I Just Knew: Love Stories From Westminster Village, Allison M. Sutton

Honors Projects

My project focuses on the goal of learning to create an ethnodrama (a theatre piece created from qualitative research data) based on stories from a specific community, to be performed for that community. I plan to conduct a focus group and 6-8 interviews at Westminster Village, workshop a staged reading of a new hour-long play based on texts from the interviews and focus group with IWU theatre students, and perform this staged reading at Westminster Village for the participants in my study and invited guests. I hope to learn qualitative research methodologies, including entering the field and conducting focus groups …

The Voice Of Ritual: A Pedagogical Exploration Teaching Body And Breath Using The Principles Of Ritual Poetic Drama Within The African Continuum, Jacquelynn Camden

Theses and Dissertations

THE VOICE OF RITUAL: AN EXPLORATION TEACHING BODY AND BREATH USING THE PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF RITUAL POETIC DRAMA WITHIN THE AFRICAN CONTINUUM By Jacquelynn Rae Camden, MFA Candidate A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts Theatre Pedagogy: Voice and Speech & Ritual Poetic Drama Within the African Continuum at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2012 Major Director: Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, Theatre The focus of my undergraduate training and the concentration of my graduate work have been specifically in two areas: Ritual Poetic Drama Within the African Continuum under the …