Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Theater Education Valuable To All Students, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Siue Theater Students Find Inspiration In London, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Butoh: The Dance Of Global Darkness, Steven Bruhm

Data and Test Instruments

No abstract provided.

Jane Austen, The Prose Shakespeare, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

This essay explores the connection between Shakespearean drama and the novel’s representation of interiority. Jane Austen’s celebrated use of free indirect discourse, I argue, is linked to Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare, which turned dramatic soliloquies into prose narration, rendering a character’s thought and idiom in a third-person voice. Heralded as a “prose Shakespeare” by nineteenth-century critics, Austen also developed an inverse free indirect discourse, the infusion of the narrative voice into characters’ dialogue. Scenes from Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion offer mini-Shakespearean plays of attention, for Shakespearean technique and quotation script Austen’s dramas of reading.

Remembering Thespis: How Former Student Actors Value Their Experiences In High School Plays, Michael Edgar Butterworth

Wayne State University Dissertations

The high school play is an iconic pastime in many schools across the United States. Historically, educators, and scholars often characterize the school play as a performance of a script by an established playwright presented in a school in a manner that replicates the standards of professional theatre. Current scholars and educators discuss the school play as the latter part of a continuum that runs from informal dramatic play to formal presentation in front of an audience. Although scholarship in theatre education regularly discusses the school play as one of the most prevalent forms of theatre education, scholarly studies of …

Myths Of The House Theatre Of Chicago (2002-2007): A Dramaturgical Study Of Chicago's "Next Big Thing", Matthew Foss

Wayne State University Dissertations

In 2002, Chicago's theatre critics targeted The House as the next big story in the city's theatre community. The House's first play, The Terrible Tragedy of Peter Pan was a critical and financial hit for the young company. Peter Pan began a five-year period of nearly unprecedented success for The House. During this time, many discussions about The House dealt with a perceived mythical quality to the type of plays the young company was creating. This study examines this question of myth in The House's plays by creating a dramaturgy that incorporates the myth theory of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Vladimir Propp …

Direction Of The Play: Roald Dahl's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: A Play, Teresa Jean Hansen

Graduate Student Projects

This project entailed the selection, background research and documentation, analysis, casting, direction, and post-production analysis of Udhailiyah School's production of Richard R. George's Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: A Play. Documentation includes research and analysis of the play and an evaluation of the play as a production vehicle for Udhailyah School. The analysis also includes a discussion as to the non-traditional directorial vision of this production.

Direction Of The Play: Phantom Tollbooth, Angela Chement

Graduate Student Projects

This project consists of the selection, background research and documentation, casting, direction, and post-production analysis of Ben Eielson Junior/Senior high's production of Susan Nanus's adaptation of Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth. Documentation included research and analysis of the play and an evaluation of the play as a production vehicle for the Department of Theatre Arts at Central Washington University. The analysis also includes a discussion as to the non-traditional directorial vision of this production.

Vaudeville, Popular Entertainment And Cultural Division In The Inland Empire, 1880-1914, Mark Hauser

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This paper discusses the emergence of vaudeville in California’s Inland Empire region of San Bernardino and Riverside counties. It will consider the social changes underway in late nineteenth-century America and their impact on attitudes towards popular entertainment. This paper will draw on Lawrence Levine’s observations of cultural hierarchies that emerged during the late nineteenth century and shaped American understandings of culture. Entertainment of the nineteenth century will be examined for the ways it was unable to match urban trends, and contrasted with vaudeville’s appeal to a diverse urban populace. The cities of San Bernardino, Redlands and Riverside were home to …

The Magazine-Programme’S Playful Pages, Nicole Flynn

English Faculty Presentations

No abstract provided.

Suzan-Lori Parks: Essays On The Plays And Other Works Edited By Philip C. Kolin (Review), Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

The anthology Suzan-Lori Parks: Essays on the Plays and Other Works offers new perspectives to the growing body of scholarship about Parks’s artistic achievements. The text features a contextualizing preface and twelve new essays about her plays, novel, and screenplays. It also contains two new interviews, one with Parks herself and another with her longtime friend and collaborator, director Liz Diamond, as well as a timeline featuring major productions of her works from her first play reading in 1984, to projects anticipated for future production on stage and screen. While Parks’s works, and works on Parks are widely anthologized in …

Theatre Of The Mind: Hardy The Dynasts And The Question Of Form, Suzanne J. Flynn

English Faculty Publications

This essay analyzes Hardy’s rarely discussed epic-drama, The Dynasts, especially in relation to trends in the early twentieth-century drama. Hardy’s work is a hybrid of epic, drama, and lyric and was, at the time, thought to be unstageable.

Undefined Genre, Or, A Study Into Work Reliant On Visual Art Mediums To Transform The Protagonist Function Of The Human Body In Performance, Tony Currie

Theses : Honours

This thesis is a study into performance art, specifically examples of work in which the artist engages with a physical object or visual arts medium to create a work of art in the presence of an audience. The subsequent work of art created can vary from works on paper, to living structures, or any other physical and tangible structure. I have addressed the audience demographic of performance art, the genre’s conceptual genesis, its ephemeral nature, and its commoditisation to analyse its relevance to the current artistic climate. During my study, an importance has been placed on live performance, not on …

The Virtual Watercooler: Influences Of Political Comedy On Social Media Discussion, Andrew Abad

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

With the emergence of social media activity as a daily phenomenon for most Americans, online users are becoming greater consumers of political information, and are choosing to share that information through social media outlets. A virtual "watercooler effect" is created, in the form of online political debates and arguments. This study examines the connection between viewers of political comedy programmings (television shows like The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report) and political discussion on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Using a survey of EMU undergraduate students that measures political efficacy and media habits, …

The Making Of Disgrace Kelly: Dragging The Diva Through Cabarets, Pubs And Into The Recital Hall, Caitlin Cassidy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project investigates the synthesis of cabaret and recital performance as a way to re-invigorate the recital as a performance platform. As a curious classical singer with a passion for cabaret, I have explored cabaret in my own creative practice as a classically trained opera singer through the employment of practice-led research methodologies. This project includes research manifested in rehearsals, performance and exegetical writing, including a unique self-reflexive voice in the writing style, to encompass a practice-led research methodology. The culmination of these approaches was a final performance program entitled Diva Bites the Dust. A study of the diva …

Framing Anorexia : A Play Script And Multidimensional Investigation Of Anorexia : A Play And Critical Essay, Louise Helfgott

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis explores anorexia nervosa in young people. It comprises two components: a play script, "Frames", about 16-year-old Elizabeth who is combating the disorder, her troubled friend Ben, and their families, and a critical essay that reviews qualitative and quantitative literature about anorexia and contextualises the play in relation to selected narratives, plays and films. In my field research, I interviewed a number of professionals working in the field of anorexia and the essay also discusses their views and insights.

Few plays deal with anorexia in an in-depth manner to explore the onset and development of the illness. "Frames" addresses …

The Aesthetic Of Failure: Authenticity, Effort, And Imperfection In American Contemporary Dance, Delaney Mcdonough

Honors Theses

This research examines a slice of American contemporary dance artists and their audiences. American postmodern choreographers such as David Dorfman, Heidi Henderson, Sara Hook, and Paul Matteson use what I am calling the aesthetic of failure as a method to punctuate their work, momentarily blur clarity, steer the viewer’s gaze, make space for live choice making, and in some cases draw laughter. Almost any emotion can be associated with failure: anger, grief, hilarity, absurdity, etc. The underpinning of failure in live performance is the medium of the craft, human bodies. Consider the phrase “humanly possible:” jump as high as humanly …

Uncovering A Genre : The Integration Of Suspended Aerial Apparatus And Contemporary Dance Practice In Australia, Catherine Ryan

Theses : Honours

Genres in the performing arts are constantly shifting and changing, with many artforms evolving into new spheres of performance. It is not uncommon for creators to employ tools and techniques from various disciplines to support their artistic vision and enhance their work. A number of contemporary dance artists have begun to explore movement in the air by adapting skills or equipment from other disciplines and industries to suit their needs. At the same time, some circus artists and aerialists have been lowering their apparatus to incorporate ground-based movement into their work. It is this cross-pollination between art-forms that has formed …

Blind Date, Joey Hamburger

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

During the academic year of 2012-2013 Joey Hamburger wrote and performed Blind Date, an hour-long comedic one-man show on relationships. The show was performed on the campus of Saint John’s University, at Stage 773 in Chicago, and the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater in Minneapolis. The process was both a lesson in writing/performing comedy and the entrepreneurial skills needed to successfully market and make profit off of a show. With both of these skills one can learn to be a successful performer and truly make a career in the art of theater.

"Alright Already, I'M Just A No Goodnick!" Guys And Dolls: A Musical Fable Of Broadway, Christopher D. Strawhun

Theses

Guys and Dolls: A Musical Fable of Broadway is considered a classic of the musical pantheon. As a candidate for the Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from Lindenwood University, I am required to participate in a production as a leading part. This paper chronicles the process and experience of performing in the musical masterpiece, as well as the history of the show.

A Director's Approach To I Love You Because, Adam Karal Sahli

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

It is a detailed account of author Adam Karal Sahli's artistic process in directing the musical I Love You Because at Minnesota State University, Mankato in the Fall of 2012. The thesis records the artist's process from production selection through performance in five chapters: a preproduction analysis, a historical and critical analysis of the work, a production meeting and performance journals, a post-production analysis and a process development analysis. Appendices, works cited and works consulted follow.

Technical Direction For Abe Burrows' Cactus Flower, Lawrence A. Lopez

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This paper is a comprehensive report of Lopez's production process of Abe Burrows' play Cactus Flower which was performed in the Ted Paul theatre November 8th through 18th, 2012. It is a record of Lopez's particular process from pre-production analysis to an examination of the final product manifested in the scenery for the production. It examines this production process in five chapters: pre-production analysis, historical and critical analysis, a production journal, post-production analysis and a record of process development concluding with three appendices and a works cited page.

Technical Direction Of Chicago, Joseph Jerome Skala

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This document provides a detailed and comprehensive record of Joseph Skala's process for the technical direction of Chicago, written by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. It is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from Minnesota State Mankato. This thesis traces the technical director's process beginning with a preproduction analysis of the scenic design. It includes a historical and critical analysis of the production, a journal detailing the technical director's process, post production analysis and an analysis of the technical director's process development. Appendices and works cited are …

The Lighting Design For A Chorus Line, Jordan William Green

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This paper describes the process involved in designing the lighting for A Chorus Line with book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante and lyrics by Edward Kleban. The play was produced in the Ted Paul Theatre at Minnesota State University, Mankato and ran from October 4 - 14, 2012. The paper consists of five chapters and an appendix. The first chapter is an analysis of the script and the requirements for lighting the play. The second chapter is an historical and critical analysis of the play. The third chapter consists of a journal of the designer's experience and processes throughout …

A Costume Designer's Approach To Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, Angela Kristie Sahli

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

It is a detailed account of author Angela Sahli's artistic process in designing costumes for Minnesota State University, Mankato's production of And Then There Were None in the early spring of 2013. The thesis chronicles the designer's artistic process from pre-production through performance in five chapters: a pre-production analysis, a historical and critical perspective, a journal, a post-production analysis and a process development analysis. Appendices and works cited are included.

Stuck : A One-Act Play, Ashleigh Ryan Whitfield

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Stuck, a one-act play, takes place in a Metro North train that stalls somewhere in upstate New York. The only passengers in the car are Alice, the main character; Max, an old college classmate; and Owen, whose misogynistic and indifferent attitude toward women provoke Alice and Max, who are encountering each other for the first time since Alice's traumatic graduation speech. While the three are trapped in the stalled car, Alice's feelings of being stuck in issues of feminist theory, intellectuality, and aging are magnified. She realizes her college education has caused her to over-analyze everyday life, and has alienated …

Stage As Street: Representation At The Juncture Of The Arts And Justice, E. Gabriel Dattatreyan, Daniel L. Stageman

Publications and Research

Arts educators working with court-involved youth face a set of complex and imbricated challenges. First, how do we gain the interest of the young people we would have participate in what we imagine are col-laborative and mutually generative projects? Second, how do we mediate representational tensions when the project is not solely therapeutic but has a broader public pedagogical purpose—to disrupt the simplistic and pathologizing discourses of poverty and violence that so often capture young men and women of color in the United States? (Bourgois, 2002; Noguera, 2008). Third, and not least, how do we navigate the institutional settings where …

An Archive, Public Participation And A Performance: Five Perspectives, Laura Browder, Patricia Herrera

English Faculty Publications

This essay discusses our work on the digital archive, The Fight for Knowledge: Civil Rights and Education in Richmond, Virginia, which grew out of our five-year documentary theater project at the University of Richmond. We include the voices of six collaborators—students, a special collections librarian, a digital archivist, and faculty members—to closely examine the multiple archives that have grown out of this project, and the way this has led us to propose a new way of thinking both about archives and about our documentary theater methodologies. This collaborative process has helped us to reconceptualize the relationship between archive and …

‘An Isle Full Of Noises’: The Perception & Influence Of Sound In Shakespeare’S The Tempest, Paul A. Di Salvo

Student Publications

Since the play’s authorship in 1610, actor-managers and directors alike have struggled over staging the opening scene of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The physical presence of the ship, the sounds and lighting effects of thunder and lightning, the dialogue of the actors, and the use of music have varied from the early 17^th century to the present in an effort to appeal to the audience. The presentation of these elements, especially sound cues and music, prepares audiences to understand the dynamics of Prospero’s powers and transformation as a character. Depending on how sound and stage technologies were implemented …

Examining Roles In Children's Group Therapy: The Development Of A Dramaturgical Role Instrument To Measure Group Process, Craig Haen

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

In this exploratory group process study of two children’s psychotherapy groups in an outpatient clinic, group roles were examined through the development of a dramaturgical coding instrument and the use of trained raters to analyze videotaped scenes of interaction. Exploratory data analysis was conducted that compared individual members within groups, group-level data between groups, and members who showed clinical change with those who did not. The results suggest the potential diagnostic utility, for researchers and therapists, of applying dramaturgical roles to group process.