Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Spring Dance Concert, Jennifer Backhaus, Liz Curtis

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

A Role-Based Integrative Community Engagement Model: Drama Therapy With Survivors (Option 3), Jodi Kanter

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

Trauma survivors have, by definition, undergone a change to their bodies and therefore, necessarily, a change in their role repertoire. This paper describes the development of a 6-session drama therapy community engagement model for self-identified survivors. The model is structured around the categories of Robert Landy’s Role Profiles assessment and integrates a range of role-based methods. The paper begins with a review of the literature on drama therapy theory and practice involving roles. It briefly considers two debates in the field: one involving the difference between therapy and the therapeutic, the other concerning the use of distancing techniques (such …

Connecting With Our Roles Through Post Traumatic Growth After Experiencing Medical Trauma, Marie Angier

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper explores the combination of drama therapist, Robert Landy’s (1993), Role Theory and the psychological concept of Post Traumatic Growth (Tedeschi, 2018). The author created a protocol that involved psychoeducation surrounding the five domains of Post Traumatic Growth and a role card sort involving the drama therapeutic process of role theory. A young adult client experiencing significant medical trauma participated in these processes during a three session intervention. Results indicated that the client viewed negative experiences as potentials for growth toward furthered resilience and future hope and optimism. The sample size was limited to one person and further search …

Blacklash: Phenomenological Hermeneutics In Black Dance, Darvejon A. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The horrors inflicted on Black bodies, souls, and spirits in the United States during the transatlantic slave trade, the Jim Crow era, and the current era (2023) have a lasting legacy of trauma metabolized through the body and transmuted generationally. Jones uses this data to contextualize the work of Black dance artists as hermeneutic phenomena in which the Black dance artist is a hermeneut tasked with delivering a message of the Black body/spirit complex: “I AM HUMAN. DO NOT KILL ME.” This paper examines how Black dance artists frequently petition for their survival — incessantly subjugated to the interpreter’s empathy, …

For What Is A Man?: Towards Languaging Contemporary Dance In A Black, Queer, Male-Presenting Body, Thomas Ford

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines Queering Blackness: Solo on a Theme of Reconciliation, a performance event that invokes movement, spoken text, projections and sound to explore the mechanisms of identity. Engaging performance, Black, queer and dance studies, the paper contextualizes cultural identity markers, towards an understanding of what it means to be Black, queer and male-assigned in Black spaces.

Gloria Rehearsal (Excerpt) A Feminist Mechanism For Metabolization, Eleanor Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Weaving embodied trauma studies with feminist theory, non-hierarchical creative structures, and research in dance improvisation, this thesis paper written by Eleanor Smith contextualizes the dance performance gloria rehearsal (excerpt). The performance piece was choreographed and performed by Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith, who have been co-choreographing feminist dances since 2006.

Edward & Sons: An Improvised Opera, Ian Robles

Theses and Dissertations

A hurricane is coming, but at Edward & Sons Hardware and Plumbing the shelves are bare, the gringo debt collectors are calling and the owners is getting high in the back room. An improvised opera about the demise of the very last family-owned hardware store in Puerto Rico.

Zeus Iv, Lauren Holmes

Theses and Dissertations

How do you survive a pandemic? When you’re trapped inside for weeks? When society’s rules are revealed as largely arbitrary?

You get a dog and bring it to the park.

This play is about a group of devoted dog owners in Boston who stumble on an unexpected community. It's a dog park ballet about the close care of strangers.

I Could Never, Chad Kaydo

Theses and Dissertations

Isn’t it horrible? What she did? Can you even *imagine* doing that? Three women reckon with the dark myths we tell ourselves…while their husbands golf.

Walk Away, Anna May, Kim Diana Ly

Theses and Dissertations

Remember how Anna May Wong was passed over for white actors in yellowface? An emerging Asian American screenwriter moves on a kaleidoscopic journey through the entertainment industry -- from Kabuki to Crazy Rich Asians -- in order to understand why she's even trying to make it in Hollywood.

Riverside Drive, Phillip C. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

RIVERSIDE DRIVE: Eugene, a mild-mannered librarian by day and a foul-mouthed comedian by night, uncovers the hidden legacy of his family’s Harlem home which forces him to transform his life.

Death Of A Salesman: Nostalgia Refracted Through The Language Of Light, Abbey Lynn Smith

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

The purpose of this thesis is to provide an in-depth look at the design process for the Nebraska Repertory Theater’s production of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, which performed in November 2022. This process includes research that facilitated early design conversations, documentation that relayed information necessary for implementation, and additional materials typically used as reference for a lighting designer. This thesis includes research images, hand-drawn renderings, previsualization, light plots, lighting paperwork, and production photos of the final product.

Blackfriars Spring Dance Concert 2023 Poster, Providence College

Playbill and Promotion

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Angell Blackfriars Theatre

Blackfriars Spring Dance Concert 2023

Thursday & Friday, May 4 & 5, 2023, 8pm

Blackfriars Spring Dance Concert 2023 Playbill, Providence College

Playbill and Promotion

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Angell Blackfriars Theatre

Blackfriars Spring Dance Concert 2023

Thursday & Friday, May 4 & 5, 2023, 8pm

Director of Spring Dance Concert, Dr. Wendy Oliver

Choreographers - Olivia Dailey, Bianca LaBella, Grace Heffernan, Olivia Krupa, Bridget Maynard, Katelyn Salvato, Mary McDonald, Shaila Murthy, Kellie Greene, Ally Lynch, PCDC's Class of 2023

Dancers: Olivia Dailey, Ally Lynch, Grace McEvoy, Ally Renaud, Sophia Callahan, Emma Daigneau, Kellie Greene, Grace Heffernan, Bianca LaBella, Julianna Martin, Bridget Maynard, Mary McDonald, Shaila Murthy, Alyssa Rago, Kiley Vallee, Katie Cota, Katie Kudla, Olivia Krupa, Liddy Graney, Katelyn …

Sweat Equity: Lynn Nottage's Radical Dialectic Of Deindustrialization, Jocelyn L. Buckner

Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"Lynn Nottage has devoted her career to researching and telling stories of Black individuals and communities with expressed interest in laborers, advocating for their agency, humanity, and legacy. In her second Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Sweat, Nottage dramatizes more recent US history, illuminating the lives of workers marginalized by the deindustrialization of the Rust Belt in the early 2000s. Sweat is emblematic of Nottage's sustained effort to deploy playwriting as activism and stand in solidarity with those whose stories she chooses to tell. As a constant theme in her works, Lynn Nottage's stories align with marginalized workers' efforts and histories, …

Death Of A Salesman: A Treatise On Technical Direction Practices, Stephanie Schlosser

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

The Nebraska Repertory Theatre, in partnership with the Johnny Carson School of Theatre, Film, and Emerging Media Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, chose to produce Death of a Salesman, directed by Jacqueline Thompson, for the second show of their 2022-2023 season. Death of a Salesman was produced on the Howell Stage, a 300-seat proscenium theatre located in the Temple building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. The graduate faculty assigned the role of Technical Director to me in May 2022. As technical director I was responsible for budgeting materials and labor, drafting and engineering scenery, managing personnel, maintaining …

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’S The Marriage Of Figaro, Camille Lerner

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

The Marriage of Figaro is generally considered to the world’s most popular operas, selling out across the world. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the school of music decided to tackle the monstrous task of putting on this production, and by collaborating with the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, brought in a design team that could meet the expectations, requirements, and demands of this monumental production. By working closely with collaborators, the university was able to, rather smoothly, create a moving performance that will be remembered by many.

Advisor: Jamie Bullins

Arthur Miller, Death Of A Salesman, Paige Moeller

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

In this thesis our rendition of Death of a Salesman turns the story by presenting it in the eyes of an African-American working man. With the influence of the infamous Arthur Miller, my take on this classic tale will demonstrate the maturity and elegance that I could manufacture during the intense process. The show had a surplus of challenges, one of the biggest being the content of the script itself with our contrasting vision, as well as sudden directorial shifts and character additions. This thesis will cover the entire process from initial designs, communication, tech process, and more. The complexity …

This Is The Way: Christian Asceticism Alive In The Star Wars Universe, David Allen Osb

Obsculta

This article is a creative reflection on how the Desert Fathers, especially St. Antony, could be compared in a pastoral way to the Jedi Masters found in the Star Wars Film and Television Canon.

The Mental Side-Effects Of Commercial Dance, Katie Carnaroli

Honors College Theses

This research evaluates the spectrum between mental adversities and mental triumphs that commercial dancers face within the four professional settings of auditions, training, rehearsals, and performances. As a senior commercial dance major at Pace University, I have found myself in many facets of the dance industry within my four years of higher education wondering how certain environments either took away or fueled my love for dance. I sought to conduct a Qualtrics survey that was completed by college dance majors and professional dancers expressing their experiences of the positive and negative connotations of the mental grit that is required of …

Witnessing Torture: Staged Violence, Spectatorship And The Theatre Of Political Imprisonment, Kyle Imbeau

Honors Program Theses and Projects

In a recent interview, renowned fight director B.H. Barry said of his work, and of the nature of violence, "I’m not frightened of violence. It’s a way of expressing something that you can’t do with words" (Kennedy). Staged violence has been common in performance from its origins, often necessitated by a text, and has evolved into its own discipline of theatre practice with regulations and credentialing processes to ensure the safety of actors and audiences. As such, we have come to know staged violence as a practical problem to be solved, a cog in the machine of a production process. …

Review Of Lewis & Tolkien—Of Wardrobes And Rings (Play), James P. Helfers

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Lewis & Tolkien—of Wardrobes and Rings, by David Payne, starring David Payne and Gordon Tett. Tempe, Arizona: Sun Valley Community Church, 8 March 2019.

Review Of The Horse And His Boy (Play), Justin Wiggins

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of The Horse and His Boy, based on the book by C. S. Lewis, adapted by Nicole Stratton, starring Isaiah Johnson, Hope Barr, Micah Hamilton, and Sheri Chavers. Taylors, South Carolina: The Logos Theatre, 1 March 2019.

Review Of The Most Reluctant Convert (Play), G. P. Wagenfuhr

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of The Most Reluctant Convert, based on the book Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis, adapted by and starring Max McLean. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Pikes Peak Center, 29 June 2019.

Review Of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (Play), Sarah R. A. Waters

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, based on the book by C. S. Lewis, directed by Mike Fentiman (based on the original production by Sally Cookson). Produced by Elliott and Harper Productions, and Catherine Schreiber. London, UK: Gillian Lynne Theatre, 30 October, 2022.

The “Invisible” Impact In The Arts: A Multiple-Case Comparative Study Depicting The Challenge Of Impact Reporting For Arts Impact Organizations, Heidi Rolf

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

This Honors Thesis researches the complex interrogative following the arts impact industry and the impact reporting methods available to the organizations within this industry. The research is achieved through a multiple-case study on six different arts impact organizations and additional web-based analysis. The case studies provide the structure for the ultimate discussion on available impact reporting methods for arts impact organizations and the level of importance, difficulty, and constraints associated with this form of reporting. This study presents detail on the growth and position of the current arts impact industry as well as that of the creative economy as a …

Allegedly In Love: A Theatrical Production, Leah Christenson

Theatre Undergraduate Honors Theses

Allegedly in Love: A Theatrical Production details the process of producing and costume designing a fully-realized performance run of an original piece by Madelyn Marks.

From The Footlight To The Spotlight: An Examination Of Theatrical Lighting Design, Jackson Smith

Theatre Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper explores the question of how one could approach designing the lighting for a theatrical production. In doing this it covers foundational information about the science behind the medium, then it goes into a discussion of the types of artistry that lighting employs. It will explain what light contributes to a scene, how it can be manipulated creatively, and some of the methods and styles that have been developed over time. It culminates in an analysis of the author's lighting design for a production of Hedda Gabler.

Erwin's Second Story: Founding A Community Theatre, Bailey Robinson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Erwin, Tennessee is a small town located just outside of Johnson City. The town is beautiful and the people are kind, but it lacks one thing - a community theatre. In an effort to increase student interest in the local high school drama department, allow community members of all ages a chance to perform, and to provide entertainment to the small town, I have worked to form a community theatre named Second Story. Founding a nonprofit community theatre comes with many challenges. In this thesis I will walk through my efforts and what all went into this labor of love. …

A Director's Take On The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Billie Williams

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper examines what it is like to be an assistant director. The play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was adapted from a book by Mark Hadden that is structured as if the main character was the writer. The stage production reworks that concept and turns it into a “play within a play”. The story is about a boy named Christopher, his broken family and his struggle with autism. When the director, Cara Harker first approached me about being an assistant director, I struggled with anxiety and not feeling like I had a real place in …