Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

The Postmodern And The Personal In Edna St. Vincent Millay’S Aria Da Capo, Roxanne Rankin

Munn Scholars Awards

Aria Da Capo, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s 1919 play, has thus far been largely ignored in literary criticism. This essay, through a historical survey of Millay’s previous critical reception followed by a close reading of Aria Da Capo, attempts to explain and then bridge this gap in academic scholarship. A postmodernist reading of the play will then illustrate why Millay’s work still confounds scholars today and how Aria Da Capo specifically continues to be relevant more than 100 years after it was first produced.

Macbeth

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

Performed February 24-26 & March 3-5 2023 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Macbeth is a tragedy that delves into themes of ambition, power, and guilt. The play follows the rise and fall of Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman, who is driven by a prophecy from three witches and the manipulative encouragement of his wife, Lady Macbeth. After murdering King Duncan to seize the throne, Macbeth's reign is marked by paranoia and tyranny, leading to further bloodshed and his eventual downfall. The play explores the psychological effects of ambition and the moral …

My Name Is Norma, Erin J. Schmidt

Theatre, Dance & Film Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Mothers And Daughters, Sean Mccord

Playwriting (MFA) Theses

Mothers & Daughters is my thesis play written after five years of coursework in the Hollins Playwrights Lab, from 2015 to 2019, and two years of writing over the course of four years, 2019 to 2023, due to some medical setbacks explained herein.

My first draft of the accompanying narrative essay was a (comparatively) compact 2000 words outlining the lessons I had learned about playwriting at Hollins and my process for writing this play. Todd Ristau, the Director of the Hollins Playwrights Lab and my first reader, wanted more and gave me both permission and motivation to do exactly what …

Creating Community In A Space Of Strangers: Sea Shanties In Theatre, Cassandra Merena

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Theatre is more than watching actors in the present. It can bring a magic into the room that connects us to a tangible ride of emotions. Sea shanties, a widely known variety of maritime singing, is purposely meant to bring its singers together. I wrote and directed an original one-act play structured around its repetitive beats, to create a communal feeling that will deem a sea of strangers a community for that day. The songs curated were specifically chosen to achieve that sense of community–songs that allow moments of reflection, toe-tapping, humming, and recognition. Phantom Pains is about a captain …

Grendel's Mother, Zoe M. Lasden-Lyman

Theses and Dissertations

She helps all the humans and animals in her building. Then why won't she answer this strange, new knocking at her apartment door? A bizarre thriller about the world right now... and about cats.

White Christmas

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of White Christmas. Book by David Ives & Paul Blake. Music & lyrics by Irving Berlin.

Performed November 11-13, 18, 20 & December 2-4, 2022 at the Mitchell Theatre.

White Christmas is a heartwarming musical based on the 1954 film of the same name, with a book by David Ives and Paul Blake, and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The story follows two World War II veterans, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, who have become successful song-and-dance performers. They team up with a sister act, Betty and Judy Haynes, and travel to Vermont …

How Does Theater Critically Engage With Contemporary Socio-Political Tensions? A Case Study On Neil Coppen And Mpume Mthombeni’S Isidlamlilo, Kami Zimmer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Historically, South African theater has utilized the stage as a platform to dismantle apartheid, pointing to its purposeful oppressive structure as the cause for much human suffering. In the 28 years since the dismantling of apartheid, contemporary South African theater has retained the same role, critically questioning the ways people are systematically disenfranchised. A need is surfacing, however, to address the causes for contemporary South African political disfunctions and societal inequities, other than apartheid. This study will focus on Isidlamlilo, a play written by Neil Coppen and Mpume Mthombeni in collaboration with their theater company Empatheatre, and will aim …

A Little Night Music, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2022-2023 Season Productions

Sondheim creates a stunning tour de force when he takes Ingmar Bergman's comedy of manners, Smiles of a Summer Night, and turns it into a musical of masterful execution and elegance. Winner of four Tony Awards, this is a musical work that has forever entranced the world of theatre.

Set in 1900 Sweden, A Little Night Music explores the tangled web of affairs centered around actress, Desirée Armfeldt, and the men who love her: a lawyer by the name of Fredrik Egerman and the Count Carl-Magnus Malcom. When the traveling actress performs in Fredrik's town, the estranged lovers' passion …

The Birds

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of The Birds by Conor McPherson adapted from the short story of Daphne Du Maurier.

Performed September 15-18, 2022 at the Mitchell Theatre.

The Birds is set in an isolated house where two strangers, Nat and Diane, seek refuge from relentless attacks by flocks of birds. As they struggle to survive with limited resources and no electricity, their fragile sanctuary is further disrupted by the arrival of a young woman named Julia. The tension inside the house mirrors the chaos outside, as paranoia and fear take hold. McPherson's adaptation delves into the psychological and …

Judged By The Cover, Jay Froio

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Food Insecurity In Perspective: Writing Food Access Into The Everyday, Colin James Lamusta

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The phrase ‘food insecurity’ has taken on a whole new meaning in the social consciousness. All around us the media and research have focused on the issue. In recent years the conditions of the pandemic, inflation, and unemployment have raised attention to the issue of food insecurity to a larger cross-section of American society. In consideration of this, I sought out the current research on food insecurity and the programs serving these food-insecure individuals to serve as a basis for a stage play. The research that proved most valuable in providing a base of inspiration for both the characters as …

I Heard The Tree Scream And I Hated The Sound, Dakota Lopes

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This play is a series of monologues and short scenes, disconnected in their narrative but strung together with a common theme: the experience of being seen. Social media, for all of its effects on the human psyche is particularly peculiar to me in this way; it allows a person to be both the actor and the audience in their own life. Not only does one have to be cognizant of what they are doing but also how they look while they are doing it. It is not enough for one to buy a house or go out for dinner with …

1000 Ways A Black Woman Dies: Stories From The Waiting Room, An Original Play, Britney Lee-Anne Mallebranche

Honors Program Theses and Projects

1000 Ways a Black Woman Dies: Stories from the Waiting Room is an original play written by Britney Lee-Anne Mallebranche. The story surrounds a group of women having an “AA” styled group therapy session. They are in some type of waiting room, waiting for final judgement after death. The women share the stories of their deaths as well as having many side conversations throughout. Mallebranche wrote this 45-minute piece as a apart of Bridgewater State University’s Adrian Tinsley Undergraduate Research Program.

Pride And Prejudice: A Modern, Queer Retelling For The Stage, Kate Isabel Foley

Theater Summer Fellows

In the course of studying LGBTQ topics in a queer drama class, I noticed that there was a glaring omission in our readings: the “B.” However, this lack of bisexual representation wasn’t due to a poor syllabus, but to a dismaying lack of bisexual representation in theatre as a whole. This observation, as well as my own experience as a bisexual woman, motivated me to use my love of writing and theatre to fill the void. After performing in Pride and Prejudice at Ursinus, I knew that Jane Austen’s story was the key to me bringing visibility to an underserved, …

Bells Like Hooves, Elizabeth Mixter

Theses and Dissertations

BELLS LIKE HOOVES is an exploration of grief and love. This play wrestles with what it feels like when someone disappears, or “ghosts”, and the complexities of survivorship. The play delves into what it means to be the one who’s left behind, our need for stories, and the limits of language.

Somebody Is Looking Back At Me, Jesse Jae Hoon

Theses and Dissertations

Somebody is Looking Back At Me, a new play by Jesse Jae Hoon, is a time-jumping fever dream satire following bestselling Asian American author Olivia, who returns to a gentrifying Chinatown. As her new successful friends transform the neighborhood, she must confront the district’s troubled past and her own allegiances.

Ruth And Lydia: The Last Scenes Of The Last Act Of A Very Long Play, In No Particular Order, Jamie Rubenstein

Theses and Dissertations

Ruth and Lydia spend their last years/months/weeks/days/minutes at the Brandywine Retirement Community in this time-bending, kaleidoscopic play about the sublime beauty of being alive.

Hard Places, Garrett Zuercher

Theses and Dissertations

In rehab, Deaf alcoholic Tip endures an inane system of rules, a revolving door of inept interpreters, and terrible coffee, but he also finds a glimmer of human kindness on the perilous and lonely journey to sobriety.

Reclamation: The Crown Of African American Identity, Lindsey Kellogg

English MA Theses

African American voices have been the main sources of influence on society and culture. For this reason, it is important that African Americans speak up and reclaim their voices. Not only are their voices important, but the stories that lie behind the voices are what need to be amplified. With the application of postcolonial theory, this thesis takes modern stories located in North America depicting racist behavior towards African Americans from the year 1970 to present-day New York City in order to fully amplify the process of social struggle. As these narratives are passed down through generations serving as a …

Sandstorm Spring 2022, Leslie Malland

Sandstorm: A Journal of Arts and Letters

Full Manuscript

100 Million, Cade Scott

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alec, an 18-year-old filmmaker, decides to bunk with a group of TikTok stars in a mansion in the suburbs of LA in hopes of becoming as famous as them one day. But, he soon finds out that they plan to keep him behind the scenes. Forced to continue helping them film and post their videos, he starts witnessing shady events involving his step-brother, Kevin. The events reach a crescendo when some of the TikTok stars accidentally disappear. Alec investigates and discovers a sinister plot, and then he finds himself in a fight for his life. Which ends with him narrowly …

Annie

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of Annie with book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse and music by Martin Charnin.

Annie is a beloved musical with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan.The musical is set during the Great Depression and follows the story of a young orphan named Annie. Living in a miserable orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan, Annie's life changes when she is chosen to spend Christmas with the wealthy Oliver Warbucks. Despite various challenges and schemes by Miss Hannigan, Annie's optimism and determination lead to a …

How Would Jesus Watch This? An Investigation Into Dance Restrictions In American Protestantism, Rebecca Lynn Huppenthal

Theatre & Dance ETDs

In the United States there has been many disagreements concerning the place of dance within Protestant Christianity. Some denominations have banned dance entirely while other utilize dance as an essential element of worship. At the center of this argument is the understanding, treatment, and use of the physical body. Beginning in the sixteenth century through current times, I analyze specific Protestant denominations including the Puritans, Evangelical Fundamentalists, Southern Baptists, the Shakers, certain African American denominations, and Pentecostals. Additionally, I examine notable liturgical modern dancers, as well as my own choreographic work, a dance film titled Rebirth. This research displays …

Approaching The 'Small Planet': Remain In Light's Starship Road Trip As Metaphor For Theatrical World-Building, Amy Yourd

Theatre & Dance ETDs

Using Elinor Fuchs’ “Visit to a Small Planet” as inspiration, I consider my play Remain in Light as its own small planet, examining theories of world-building, science fiction, and utopian performativity to investigate possible functions of imaginary worlds onstage. In chapter one, I appropriate Fuchs’ script analysis exercise for my own purposes of play development, discovering a world of sensory detail that parallels the characters’ experience in the play. In chapter two, I conceive of the play’s starship as an imaginary world crashing towards this one, its escape a hopeful reflection on the utopian possibilities of alternate worlds. In chapter …

Eccentric: Writing Through The Lens Of Empathy, Steven M. Blacksmith

Theatre & Dance ETDs

In this essay, I detail my growth as a writer through different periods of empathic learning. I examine my childhood struggle to understand many common emotions and the ways in which I began to logically dissect and replicate them in life and in art. I further delve into this examination through my discovery of comedy and the lifelong process of understand the deep connections humans make with humor. I then discuss how my understanding of empathy allowed me to write my dissertation play, The Eccentrics, and create a world in which empathy among the characters can be a catalyst …

The 5th Humor, Stella Maria Perry

Theatre & Dance ETDs

I will be using a self-interview as a method of investigating both the origins of myself, the artist, and the work produced I have produced in and out of the MFA Dramatic Writing program with a special focus on my dissertation play, The Blood Vessel.

The intention is to investigate how my plays have come into existence and how they inform each other. This is done through a series of questions I ask myself under the pseudonym Penelope Hawkins. Penelope guides me through the investigation as a character, thus becoming part of the work of the self-interview and still …

Beneath The Surface: A Memory Play On Asperger's Syndrome, Conner Case

Senior Honors Theses

While academic, formal research proves to give readers an intellectual understanding of Asperger’s syndrome, this thesis serves as an approach to understanding the psychology of an Aspie on an emotional level. Through both research from peer-reviewed studies and the personal perception of an Aspie writer, a playwright develops a script inspired by the psychological aspects of Tennessee Williams’ memory play, The Glass Menagerie, to create an informative, yet engaging story about an Aspie protagonist. The playwright seeks to express that Aspies, despite their stereotypically cold exteriors, are emotionally complex individuals beneath the surface.

Let The People Speak: How Verbatim Theater Allows Historically Marginalized Groups Tell Their Stories, Kalala C. Kiwanuka-Woernle

Theatre and Dance Honors Projects

motherhood: the good, bad, and ugly was born out of my research of Verbatim Theater, specifically the practices of Anna Deavere Smith, The Tectonic Theater Project, and Eve Ensler; and the lack of fully fleshed out mother characters represented in theatre. In my research, I focused on how these different playwrights crafted their plays, identified the topic or event they wanted to explore, and the selection of their subjects. During the pandemic, I had the idea to create a theater piece that would tell the good, the bad, and the ugly of motherhood because in the media especially in the …

Spring Awakening: A Midwest Children's Tragedy, Lena Nighswander

Honors Projects

Spring Awakening: A Midwest Children's Tragedy is a new play that takes up the issues of adaptation, translation, and temporality in regards to Frank Wedekind's Frühlingserwachen, a play infamous in its revelry in controversy and unflinching nature in the face of social issues many would prefer to ignore. Several modern adaptations of the original text exist, but none have utilized the 2020s as a setting nor have they used the fertile landscape of the American midwest as a background.

This play, set in Toledo, OH, leans into the Wedekindian tradition of cutting social criticism and controversy in its exploration of …