Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Circle Mirror Transformation, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2012 Summer Theatre

A sharply funny new play by emerging playwright Annie Baker, Circle Mirror Transformation follows five people through a summer of "creative drama" in their small town's adult acting class. Led by their bohemian acting coach, the five experiment with harmless theatre games that unexpectedly lead to poignant discoveries about themselves and each other. At turns, surprisingly funny and subtly insightful, this revealing play reminds us why theatre is the most human of all arts.

The Cat Who Couldn't Take A Nap, Rebecca Saunders

English Faculty Publication Series

Cleo wakes up to discover that she has become a cat.  At first, leaping about is fun, but alas, she is an elderly cat. And soon, all she wants is to have a nice snooze.

So what keeps getting in her way?

My Dear Watson: A Musical Interpretation Of Sherlock Holmes’S Friendship With Dr. John Watson, Jami-Leigh C. Bartschi

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

The relationship between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson is complicated and certainly untraditional. Some theorize that Holmes is merely using Watson while Watson desperately seeks his affection. Others theorize that they have an unrequited homosexual relationship. However, it is Holmes’ unemotional nature paired with Watson’s fierce loyalty and admiration that creates a new and unique type of relationship. Many would define friendship as an emotional bond, but with Holmes, this is impossible. That does not mean, however, that he is incapable of deeply caring for Watson. It means that the relationship looks different than the traditional friendship. Watson and Holmes’ …

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 12, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Decision Height produced as Hollins Senior Thesis
• Student Spotlight: Meredith Levy
• Report from the Iowa New Play Festival
• To The New Girl Read in Chicago
• May Graduate: Samantha Macher
• The Weatherman Project Read at Seattle Rep Writers Group Showcase
• May Graduate: Kris Knutsen Marushy
• May Graduate: Maura Campbell
• May Graduate: Neeley Gossett
• May Readings at SkyPilot Feature Hollins Playwrights
• May Graduate: Brandon DuMonde
• Dirty Pictures by Jeri Weiss Part of Asphalt Jungle Shorts in Ontario
• Purge by Jeri Weiss Produced at Studio 81
• If You Plan It, He Will Come by Neeley Gossett Produced by Working Title Playwrights
• From the …

Stingray : An Exploration Into The Art And Craft Of Playwriting, Samantha Liguori

HIM 1990-2015

Cloud Nine by Carol Churchill is a good example of non-linear play structure. Episodic plays are part of an even more disjointed time structure. There are both many different locations and characters in an episodic play; it is similar to a film script for that matter. Onstage, this was a revolution; how can a person be in one city and then the next shortly after? This was the rule of continuity that episodic structure broke. Bertolt Brecht did this throughout his movement in epic theatre, and traces of this structure can also be found as early back as Medieval plays. …

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 Development And Debut Of Adam Esquenazi Douglas' Play "Murder And The English Gentleman", Adam Esquenazi Douglas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the development process of the creation of a new playscript, "Murder and the English Gentleman", an adaptation of the short story "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" by Oscar Wilde. The play is a wild, comedy-of-manners presented in classic Wildean 19th century drawing room style. The document details the process of getting this script from short story to script to stage. Also included are some of the play's most significant drafts, the original short story by Wilde, production and rehearsal journals, and production photos. The play was presented by the University of Arkansas' Boar's …

Exploring The Morality Of Arthur Miller And Elia Kazan To Show How It Affected Their Work, Friendship And Society, Dale D. Parry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to explore the moral convictions, or the lack of same, in the personal character of Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan and to show how those convictions affected not only their work and personal friendship but society as well. They first met in 1946 when Harold Clurman of the Group Theater passed to Kazan a Miller play that he had read entitled All My Sons. With the success of the play, the two became fast friends and collaborators in profession and ideology. Each had in common the Great Depression, problem fathers, marital instability and Communism. …

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 21st Century Love Letter, Rachel Nagelberg

SPECS journal of art and culture

No abstract provided.

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 08, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Darlene Fedele Teaching at Ferrum College
• We Have Achieved Our Fundraising Goal!
• Guest Profile: Lisa Schlesinger
• Guest Profile: Brett Neveu
• Formation of the New Works Advisory Board
• Plane Talk at SkyPilot Features Hollins Playwrights
• Shifting Gears by Jeri Weiss at Fronkensteen
• Young Actors Studio Commissions Samantha Macher
• Hollins Playwright Wins Monologue Competition
• The Muse Factory by Robert Plowman Workshopped
• Clinton Johnston Directs Night of the Iguana
• Sandbox Radio Features Work by Elizabeth Heffron
• Short Plays at SkyPilot Include Hollins Playwrights
• From the Director: Who's a Starving Artist?

Prodigal, Jonathan R. White

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Following a similar pattern of the classic Biblical story of “The Prodigal Son”, the play allows for a modernization of the characters and setting. Set in 1968, the playwright takes a look at what happened after the “Prodigal Son” returned home as well as the effect the return had upon the Son that stayed as well as the Father. How can family relationships survive in the midst of lies and turmoil of a time of great change in America’s history.

A Long Low Whistle In The Distance, Blair C. Runion

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Erin is returning to her childhood home on a Native reservation in New Mexico. She hopes to see her father one more time before he dies, but she has other motives as well. Her relationships with her family, and with her lover Maddie come under pressure through this change in her life. Between the looming dream of reuniting with her father, and coming to terms with the new stage in her life Erin is learning how to accept herself and others.

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 07, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Tesseract Theatre Calls for Submissions
• Student Spotlight: Taylor Gruenloh
• Guest Profile: Gina Kaufmann
• Last Hope for Twenty Miles by Ricky Steven Young
• War Bride Read at SkyPilot
• No Shame Central Coast Celebrates First Anniversary
• Fast N' Loose #40 Includes Hollins Playwright
• Mary’s Dream by Yulia Gray
• 12 Plays of Christmas at SkyPilot
• The Perfect Gift by Wendy-Marie Foerster at Secret Rose Theatre
• Clarissa's Cat by Darlene Fedele at James River Conference Center
• After Hours at the Dead Legend at University of Great Falls
• Consider a Year End Gift to the New Works Initiative
• From the Director: What's in Your Manifesto?

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 06, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• No Shame Theatre Turns 25 in Iowa and 8 in Roanoke.
• Guest Profile: Mead Hunter
• Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America
• Hollins Playwright at Playwrights Theatre Center Colony
• Nicole B. Adkins Plays in Indiana and Utah
• National Playwriting Month
• Brown Paper Tickets
• Earthbound: An Electronica Musical
• A Woman of Independent Means Returns Hollins Playwright to Campus
• Passing of Professor Klaus Phillips
• Film Features MFA Playwright Chad Runyon
• From the Director: Big Theatres Can Be Big Tents for Small Organizations

A Christmas Carol: The Musical

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2011 performance of A Christmas Carol, based on the story by Charles Dickens. Music by Alan Menken, book by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.

A Christmas Carol tells the story of elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner, and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Through the encounters Scrooge is transformed into a kinder man.

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 05, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Guest Profile: Peter Ullian
• Student Spotlight: Avis Gray
• Confirmed Faculty and Guests for 2012
• Mitzi's Abortion at Infinite Abyss in Miami
• Fronkensteen Announces Open Play Submissions
• Yulia Gray Opens Breast Cancer Play
• Best of No Shame Returns to the Waldron
• Luis and the Great Field Trip Adventure by Wendy-Marie Foerster and Jason Miller
• Sandbox Radio 2 Features Elizabeth Heffron
• October graduate Sunny da Silva
• October graduate: Adam Hahn
• Samantha Macher's LA Success Story
• From the Director: Get Practical Experience in the Medium You're Writing For

El Teatre Català: Drames Públics I Privats, Sharon G. Feldman

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Amb l'arribada dels anys 1990, dues sales de teatre públic ostensiblement sumptuoses, el Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC) i el nou Teatre Lliure, van alçar-se en el paisatge teatral barceloni com a Hoes decisius de disputa. Cadascuna va esdevenir un camp de bataHa artistic i polític, un tema destacat de debat i discussió, i de vegades un lloc d'espectacle públic. Potser el drama públic més carnavalesc que va tenir lloc durant aquest període és el protagonitzat per la indeleble presencia de l’actor/ director Josep M. Flotats, l'infructuós periode del qual al timó del TNC, que va acabar amb la seva …

The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2011 performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is a parody in which all of Shakespeare’s plays are performed in merged and/or condensed form by three actors. The actors use their real names, interact with the audience, and at times improvise as they go through the plays.

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 04, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• YouthPLAYS to Publish New Play By Jeri Weiss
• Student Spotlight: Jeri Weiss
• Guest Profile: Todd London
• Outrageous Fortune
• Uncertainty Theory By Maura Campbell Published
• Kenley Smith Named Resident Playwright
• Roanoke Community High School Performance Space Opens with No Shame
• Ruth's Story by Marshall Opie produced in Washington DC
• MFA Students Initiate 10-Minute Play Workshops
• Taylor Gruenloh in The Pillowman
• Directing Workshop with Bob Moss
• Lab Playwrights Present Drama Camp in Los Angeles
• From the Director: Our Students Work and their Work Gets Done

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 03, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Guest Profile: Sandra Hosking
• Student Spotlight: Ricky Steven Young
• To The New Girl, by Samantha Macher, opens in Los Angeles
• Professional Reading and Another Published Play for Neeley Gossett
• Man with Wings by Ben R. Williams at Studio Roanoke
• The Aesop Project at SkyPilot Theatre Features Hollins Playwrights
• MFA Playwright Adam Hahn Wed In Wyndham Robertson Library
• No Shame on the Move Again
• Robert Plowman Completes MacDowell Colony Residency
• Hollins Graduate Gives $1000 Gift to New Works Initiative Fund!
• The Terrorism of Everyday Life by Hamell on Trial at Hollins
• From the Director: Playwriting for Dummies

The Development And Production Of Justin Blasdel's Play Your Last Friend, Inc., Justin Morgan Blasdel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the process of the creation of the new script, Your Last Friend, Inc., a play about two conmen who realize that selling death isn't nearly as easy as selling life to the hopeless. It follows the many evolutions of the script; from the first version developed in the Graduate Playwriting class all the way to the final production at Boar's Head Players 2010 New Play Showcase at Nadine Baum Studios at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The playwright's choice to add humor to a serious topic is challenged, the characters actions face outside opinions, and …

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 02, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Student Spotlight: Marshall Opie
• Messages to You by Sunny da Silva at Studio Roanoke
• Guest Profile: W. David Hancock
• Reading of Hancock's SECONDS at Mill Mountain Theatre
• Elizabeth Heffron's Radio Play in SANDBOX RADIO Live!
• Overnight Sensations at Mill Mountain Theatre
• Adam Hahn's Adaptation of King Kong at Studio Roanoke
• Performance by Café Antarsia Ensemble
• Guest Profile: John Bergman
• 2011 Festival of Student Readings
• From the Director: Summer Session Recap

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 01, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Summer Event Schedule
• Guest Profile: Mac Wellman
• Frogger by Adam Hahn at Studio Roanoke
• Guest Profile: Cheryl Snodgrass on Directing New Plays
• Two Short Plays by Samantha Macher Featured in Happening at Hell-Tro Theatre Collective in Brooklyn
• Hollywood Fringe Festival Features Clinton Johnston's Am I Black Enough Yet?
• Dramatists Guild Conference
• From the Director: Excitement about the summer session

Fly Faster, Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

‘Fly Faster’ is an audio play by Jim McGovern. The underlying genre is tragedy with some dry humour and incidental music. The main theme is academic rivalry and the feeling of being repressed or bullied. The context is a department of aeronautical engineering at a university. The play also takes an irreverent look at some engineering, academic and commercial attitudes and practices. It may contain some technical terms! A full three-act stage play variant is also available: ‘Just Let Me Fly.’

Leonard Twiglet runs a propeller-propulsion research grouping, called APPEAL, from the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of …

Just Let Me Fly, Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

‘Just Let Me Fly’ is a three act play by Jim McGovern. The underlying genre is tragedy with some dry humour and incidental music. The main theme is academic rivalry and the feeling of being repressed or bullied. The context is a department of aeronautical engineering at a university. An audio play variant is also available: ‘Fly Faster.’

The main character, Leonard Twiglet, is a middle-aged Reader in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Selfridge. Between the spring of 2003 and the autumn of 2004 Leonard experiences a crisis that, without his realizing it, has been building up for years. …

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 12, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Guest Profile: Branko Dimitrijevic
• Guest Profile: Christopher Jones
• This is My Office by Andy Bragen
• Wendy-Marie Foerster's adaptation of NO EXIT
• Ernie Zulia Receives Perry F. Kendig Award
• From the Director: New Expanded Format Coming Next Month

Los Exilios De Els Joglars, Sharon G. Feldman

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Quizàs no hay ninguna otra compañía teatral en el Estado español que se haya inspirado tanto en las encrucijadas ambivalentes del mundo del espectáculo con la vida real -especialmente, la vida política catalana- como Els Joglars. A lo largo de SU trayectoria de más de cincuenta años, Albert Boadella y su compañía no han dado nunca la espalda a la política; al contrario, han ido modificando sus valores estéticos de manera gradual, ajustando su punto de ataque según las cuestiones políticas mas apasionantes y ardientes de cualquier momento dado. Els Joglars siempre han dejado que lo político despierte e invada …

Playright: A Portfolio And Reflection On The Craft, Christine Baniewicz

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Artmaking On The Edge Of A Cliff: Directing Iphigenia 2.0, Shannon E. Cameron

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 and actors and evaluation of final product.

Advisor:  Virginia Smith