Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Costume Design For Roosters By Milcha Sanchez-Scot, Theatre Uni, Spring Semester, 2003, Carmelita Tyson Guse

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to document the process of designing costumes for Theatre UNI's production of Roosters by Milcha Sanchez-Scott. It serves to document the collaboration between director and designers that is necessary to produce a quality theatrical work. This work is a compilation of the research and creative process. Charts, lists, renderings, photographs, and a journal are included to show the progression of the process, in addition to pre-production research.

Roosters was performed in the Bertha Martin Theatre February 27-March 2 and March 6-9, 2003. The play chronicles a special day in the life of the Morales …

Theatre As A Change Agent: An Analysis Of High School Theatre Education And Its Benefits In Communication And Problem Solving, Cory Losenicky

Graduate Research Papers

Theatre education in the high school has an interesting past. Theatre has a long presence in schools as entertainment, but its benefits to educational outcomes has been largely overlooked. In the United States around the turn of the last century, this schema began to be questioned. In 1936, Columbia University published a book discussing the use of theatre in the United States and its possible uses in education: "The Production of Later 19th Century American Drama" by Garrett Leverton. This book was the first to discuss the beginning of the changing role of theatre in education. Columbia University was not …

Mcnally's Men: The Homosocial Gaze In Lips Together, Teeth Apart, Gary L. Green

Graduate Research Papers

I will examine McNally's 1991 play "Lips Together, Teeth Apart" and explore his theatrical representations of the male body onstage, primarily from the point of view of the heterosexual male characters, John and Sam, and their homosocial relationship with each other, and how they relate to the invisible presence of the gay men around them. While "Love! Valour! Compassion!" displays frontal nudity, "Lips Together, Teeth Apart" uses what I will call "narrative nudity," verbally conjuring up the physicality of the male body through images designed by McNally's vivid and colorful language and dialogue. This paper will be in two parts: …

Dino Hayz At The Putnam Museum Of History And Natural Science: Introducing Creative Drama, Theatre For Youth And Participation Theatre As Educational Tools In The Museum Setting, Tess Marlene Lassen

Graduate Research Papers

The intent of this study is to show how the principle of teaching in role through Theatre for Youth, Participation Theatre and Creative Drama were used by Dino Hayz to teach young people about exhibits at the Putnam Museum of History and Natural Science in Davenport, Iowa from 1990 to 2001. When it began, the Heritage Theatre at the Putnum Museum offered short plays or monologues performed in and relating to the museum exhibits. These pieces were performed for the general public, adults and youth. The Theatre Coordinator was Margo Stites. Under the direction of Dino Hayz the role of …

The Putdown: Intergenerational Communicative Dynamics Of Male Characteristics In The Plays Of August Wilson, Bryan C. Moore

Graduate Research Papers

Most African-American playwrights use realistic dialogue and monologues in their plays to share messages and stories about African-American culture, history, and society with others. One of the most popular and successful African-American playwrights today is August Wilson. His plays are a plethora of storytelling, and makes use of strong dialogue. Wilson displays elements of African-American culture and history in each of his plays, mostly through interaction and conversations between the characters. Wilson's plays are part of a larger project known as the twentieth-century cycle, in which each play represents a decade of African-American history and culture.

A Structure-Model For The Hamlet-Tradition, Christopher Scott Chiron

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The "hero-as-fool" structure-model for the Hamlet-story proposed by William F. Hansen is modified into an "Amlethan" structure-model with five major elements: ( 1) the Usurpation; (2) the First Test (of the Maiden); (3) the Second Test (of the Mother); (4) the Third Test (of the Journey); and (5) the Revenge. The first and last elements emphasize the "avenging son" aspect of the story whereas the middle three elements emphasize the "hero-as-fool" aspect. The Amlethan structure-model is then re-applied to the two "essential" texts in the tradition, Saxo Grammaticus' narrative of Amleth (c. 1200) and William Shakespeare's play Hamlet (c. 1600). …

Sex, Violence, And Hand Puppets: History And Structure Of Punch And Judy Performance Tradition, James Robert Davis

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Punch and Judy are characters who exist only within the boundaries of the puppet theatre, in performances where characters are portrayed by inanimate figures. Nonetheless, the history of the puppet theatre, and particularly that of Punch and Judy, is closely related to the history of more widely accepted, actor-based theatre, where characters are portrayed by human beings. While the two traditions-share many common elements--such as the importance of characterization, direction, and design--the essential difference between actor-theatre and puppetry is the manner in which the performance is presented. The approach of this study is threefold: first, a linear history of the …

"Why Can't The English" . . . Learn To Get Along?: Musical Reinforcement Of Negative Personal Characteristics In My Fair Lady, Gretchen Hundling

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

Although the matter of adaptation is a delicate one, a majority of Shaw's original work is retained in My Fair Lady--over half of the show is the original Pygmalion script (Lerner Street 23). With the exception of the altered ending, almost all of Shaw's poke at English society is intact. But in this case, the songs of the musical serve an even greater function than just relaying what is on the characters' minds when the orchestra starts to play. The characters of this show are sometimes lovable, yet often detestable, for a great deal of their negative issues and …

Honor Among Thieves? Socio-Economic Theories Of Thorstein Veblen In The Plays Of David Mamet, Steven Allan Halverson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Award-winning playwright David Mamet has acknowledged numerous times his indebtedness to the socio-economic theories of turn-of-the-century economist Thorstein Veblen, whom Mamet credits as influencing the motivation of the characters in several of his plays set in work-related environments.

Veblen, who was largely influenced by Darwin and Freud, declared that the economic institution of capitalism encourages an instinctive "predatory animus" in man to surface due to capitalism's encouragement of the ownership of private property. Veblen asserted that the desire for private property goes beyond one's essential physiological needs and is driven instead by the psychological drive to improve one's self-esteem and …

Performances At An Aids Memorial Quilt Display: An Ethnographic Study Of Rehearsal, Joyce Anne Flodin

Graduate Research Papers

Several tentative research questions posed early in the study focused on the audience. The study of audience was later abandoned because it would not have been feasible for one researcher to conduct analyses of audiences while also observing performers. A study of these audiences would have been interesting because these were not a typical audience coming to a theatre for entertainment. These audiences were emotionally tied to the topic of the texts. Most of the audience members were highly knowledgeable about AIDS and related issues. The only audience analyses in this study were the directors' and performers' impressions of audience …

Augustin Daly; Certain Writings On His Life And Livelihood, Daniel J. Topf

Graduate Research Papers

The American theatre of the early nineteenth century was strongly dependent upon the European theatre. American theatre goers looked across the ocean to import talent, playwrights, plays, and actors. Not until mid-century did America begin to develop its wold-wide theatre influence. Specifically, the latter half of the nineteenth century yielded one of the most influential director/playwrights of the American theatre until that time. Modern American drama begins with Augustin Daly (Quinn 1).

John Augustin Daly, the son of an American sea captain and a British Lieutenant's daughter, was born on the seventh of July, 1838 in Plymouth, North Carolina (Johnson …

“Open Endings”: A Proposed Theatre-In-Education Program Exploring Adolescent Suicide, Joan Elizabeth Disburg

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

"'Open Endings': A Proposed Theatre-in-Education Program Exploring Adolescent Suicide" is a descriptive study the purpose of which is to establish the theoretical basis for and the process of the development of a Theatre-in-Education program exploring the complex social issue of adolescent suicide. Chapter One introduces the study and presents a review of related literature in the two areas: adolescent suicide and Theatre-in-Education. Chapter Two establishes the theoretical base for the use of the specific dramatic form, Theatre-in-Education, for the exploration of the complex social, adolescent suicide. Four major theorists have been selected for this theoretical treatment: Richard Courtney, Robert J. …

William Gillette And American Theatrical Realism Of The Late Nineteenth Century, Mark Burnett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis, entitled William Gillette and American Theatrical Realism of the Late Nineteenth Century studies the realistic staging techniques employed by William Gillette during the latter part of the nineteenth century in order to bring recognition and establish William Gillette as an innovator in the realistic staging of drama during the time in American theatre known as the movement toward realism.

The study examines four plays written and staged by William Gillette which range both in chronology of production and importance to the movement: those plays being Held By The Enemy, Secret Service, Sherlock Holmes, and Electricity. Using these plays, …

The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts And Creative Dramatics: A Working Relationship, Kristin Louise Card

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This paper was used as an evaluation of the creative dramatics programming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. It provides a brief history of the Kennedy Center from its conception, chronicling its development and construction, and explaining the purpose and philosophy of the Education Division as described in the Congressional Act that made a National Performing Arts Center possible. The operations of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are diverse; the Education Division functions as the primary source of programming for children. The recent addition of creative dramatics classes for …

Audience Preference For Metaphoric Concept In Broadcast Language, Denis Martin Bramblette

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

A recent communication theory premise that individuals tend to arrange their thinking metaphorically is the focus of this study. Some communication scholars posit that humans actually think in metaphors. That is, individuals understand something by using one thing to stand for another. Humans communicate by comparing things they understand. Thus, we as humans actually arrange our thinking metaphorically and we understand things or interpret symbols by processing information through a system of metaphoric concepts.

This study attempts to extend metaphoric concept communication theory by examining the broadcast news segment of mass media. This study's general hypothesis is that if individuals …

Performance In Family Narratives: An Ethnographic Study Of Oral Interpretation Components, Cathryn Anne Elmer-Baldner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Current folklore researchers have described the telling of family narratives as performance. The purpose of this study was to identify performance behaviors used by a selected narrator of family stories. Using oral interpretation of prose as a performance model, this researcher proposed that behaviors recognized as performance in oral interpretation were also utilized by the family storyteller. This study was designed to collect and analyze video-taped telling of family stories to determine whether the behaviors demonstrated by the family narrator in telling the story were comparable to behaviors associated with oral interpretation performance. This study assumed that (1) oral interpretation …

Preparing Classroom Teachers For Their Role In The Participation Theatre Experience For The Primary School Audience, Nancy Norvell Ball

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Participation theatre provides a creative and valuable experience for the primary school child. The attitude and involvement of the classroom teacher can hinder or enhance this experience for the child. The purpose of this study is to describe: A. a five-step process by which a children's theatre company can insure a positive teacher attitude during performance and stimulate the teacher to provide creative follow-up activities in the classroom; and B. the implementation of this process by The Tiddly Winks Players during a pilot project in four Waterloo, Iowa, elementary schools in the spring semester of 1980. The components and goals …

A Comparative Study Of The Performer's Empathic Process In The Arts Of Interpretation And Modern Dance, Patricia Reddinger Geist

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The present study was designed as a comparative analysis of the performer's empathic process in the arts of interpretation and modern dance. The similarity between the performer's empathic process in both arts provided a method for exploring the utility that modern dance offers the interpreter. It was the purpose of this thesis to suggest that training in modern dance provides an experience in expressive movement which develops the interpreter's ability to empathize with the literature.

The performer's experience in modern dance and interpretation involves an empathic response to stimuli presented within the choreography or within the literature. Examination of various …

The Suitors, A Rhymed Farce In Two Acts, Derryl Barr

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

l!!!, Suitors is an original two act rhymed farce that emulates but does not imitate the comedies of Plautus and Terence. Although the play retains many of the basic features native to Roman comedy, its author has modified or disregarded other features deemed less significant, according to the needs of his play. The plot of the play is concerned with the traditional young lovers of Roman comedy, Zero and Blusha, overcoming the obstacles placed between them and the realization of their love. These obstacles include: Zero's impoverishment, which is compounded by his wealthy uncle, Doctor Pomo Pena Cyllicus who, at …