Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Time Served In Prison Shakespeare, Niels Herold, Matt Wallace

Selected Papers of the Ohio Valley Shakespeare Conference

No abstract provided.

Appropriated Shakespeare: Sensation, Politicization, And De(Con)Struction, David George

Selected Papers of the Ohio Valley Shakespeare Conference

No abstract provided.

Letter To The Editor: A Response To Dr. Teresa Terhaar’S “The Task And Role Of Theater”, John Schuurman

Pro Rege

Response to "The Task and Role of Theatre" by Teresa TerHaar, Pro Rege vol. 42, pp. 34-39. (March 2014).

Nineteenth Century Views On Theater And Drama In English, Rebecca Unetic

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

With the passing of the Licensing Act of 1737 and until its repeal in 1969 the Lord Chamberlain’s office has been legally able to censor any drama to be performed at established theatres in England. However, the 1737 Act left inconsistencies in the definition of censorship and the role of censor. People who were involved in theatre believed the Lord Chamberlain’s office gained too much power from the Act. In the nineteenth century, actors, playwrights and members of Parliament agitated for the reform of the 1737 Licensing Act, which led to the establishment of three special parliamentary committees in 1822-1823, …

Anna Karenina: A Full Length Play, Serena Mccarthy

Theses

Anna Karenina: A Full Length Play brings Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel to life on the theatrical stage. This classic addresses issues of gender roles, social hierarchies, and the nature of love in the Russia of the 1860’s. The unforgettable themes in Anna Karenina such as love and destiny have thrilled readers and audiences for years.

A Phallic Play: Examining 5Th Century Cultural References To Illuminate Aristophanes' Appeal For Peace To A Modern Audience, Gary Sean Pettit

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Aristophanes’ Lysistrata is a popular work for contemporary production. Written in 411 BCE, the work explores what happens when the females of Athens participate in a sex strike in order to coerce the males to end the Peloponnesian War. By exploring cultural references to symbols in Lysistrata, mainly the phallus, this article seeks to convey the vehemence with which Aristophanes was advocating for an end of the Peloponnesian war and to demonstrate to theatre practitioners that Lysistrata is unique in its rhetoric about war and its destructive force on society. By understanding these significant cultural references, a modern director …

The One Voice Project, Amanda Rose Hartley Villarreal

Master of Theater Production Graduate Projects

This process drama is intended to guide inner-city students of diverse ethnic backgrounds in the discovery of theatre as a viable form of expression in their lives. Through the course of a 6-week unit, these students will be introduced to different types of performances, from pantomime to monologues, making theatrical performance a less foreign experience. Once they have gained a familiarity with theatre and with different types of performance, the students will be invited to write theatrical performances of their own.

"The Color Purple" Takes Us On Emotional Journey Of Self-Discovery (Performance Review), Daryl Cumber Dance

English Faculty Publications

Extraordinary. That's the only way to describe the Virginia Repertory Theatre's musical version of "The Color Purple." Based on Alice Walker's classic novel, this Broadway-class show takes the audience on a moving, soulful journey of self-discovery with the heroine, Celie.

Play From The Heart: On Crafting A Community Of Empathy In The Theatre, Kevin Kingston

The Theatre School MFA in Directing Theses

The power of story goes beyond mere escapist entertainment. Yes it should entertain, but that is not the ultimate goal. It may even offer a bit of escape, but again this is not the holy grail. When we experience a well-crafted narrative, we are called to cross a threshold. We pass through the door of our own life and enter into the experience of another. This is what we mean when we say we "got lost" in the story. We take on the experience of another as our own. When a group of people experience a narrative they cross this …

A Method To The Madness: My Quest For A New System Of Acting, Michael Osinski

The Theatre School MFA in Directing Theses

How does one get actors to embrace work and imbue it with the same truth they bring to realistic theatre and how does one prevent them from turning into robots performing meaningless gestures? How does one work in experimental ways while still giving actors something human to hang onto? This thesis will examine a new system of acting to embrace the demands of the work and explore how to articulate and collaborate with actors to create the work.

Opening Remarks To Outing Lorraine At The Schomburg Center, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This article is an edit of the opening remarks for the event held on May 22nd, 2014 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as part of the In The Life Series supplying Black LGBT programming coordinated by Steven Fullwood. Outing Lorraine included panelists: Alexis DeVeaux, Joi Gresham, and Steven Fullwood and was moderated by Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz. Opening remarks provide a biographical description of Lorraine Hansberry's life, prepare the audience for a conversation on the implications for "outing" a black iconic figure, details the purpose for use of primary and secondary sources when, and provides a bibliography for …

Task And Role Of Theatre, Teresa Terhaar

Pro Rege

This paper is part of a larger work, “Four Year Articulation Paper,” which chronicles Dr. Teresa TerHaar’s faith and academic journey.

Chaffin, Cyndi M. (Sc 1290), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1290. Research paper, written 1981 or later, by WKU student Cyndi Chaffin, titled “Russell Miller and His Contributions to the Theatre in Bowling Green [Kentucky] from 1947-1968.” Miller taught drama and speech and directed theater productions at WKU.

Center Stage, Bryce Johnson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Thank you very much for the grant received from the Office of Research and Creative Work. I am writing to report on how that grant was used to finance my project, Center Stage, a thirty-minute documentary film on Ruth and Nathan Hale, founders of the oldest continuously-running center stage theater in the country.

Theater Of War: Booth And Beyond, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Lastly, we come upon perhaps the best known actor of the Civil War era, John Wilkes Booth. Of course, the reason memory allows us to recall the name is not because of the merits achieved through his profession, but rather because he murdered the elected executive official – United States President Abraham Lincoln. Booth, a product of a theater family, was a dramatic, eccentric, and impatient being. He wanted the leading roles, did not want to prepare the role, but to simply play the role. His brother, Edwin Booth, a talented poetical performer, one might deduce, did prepare for his …

Theater Of War: Combining Entertainment And Art, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Did the theater work to benefit the causes for north or south, dependent upon region? Sautter stated that this phenomenon was less common than many might expect. Many actors stated their neutrality, or as one Civil War era actor said, “I am neither northerner nor southerner.” Still others simply responded to the war by leaving the country. One must consider the “clannish nature” of theater of the time in order to understand how actors could have taken the neutral role during a war of ideals: many actors were born into theater life, therefore did not grow up in any one …

Bent, February 6-8, 2014, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Bent by Martin Sherman and directed by Deon Haider.

Synopsis: Bent is a story of living versus survival. It concerns Max, a gay "wheeler-dealer" who leads a dissolute life of drink, drugs, and sporadic sex in prewar Berlin. One night he and his lover Rudy pick up the wrong man--someone who's on the Nazi's wanted list. Max and Rudy are forced to flee Berlin and live underground. Ultimately they are arrested, and sent to Dachau. En route, Rudy is murdered, but Max survives with the help of a "pink triangle" prisoner, Horst.

Once in …

Theatre Of War: A Witness To Love, Tragedy, And Parody, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Central to American nineteenth century life was the theater. As the fratricidal fighting of the American Civil War broke out and divided the nation, this centrality remained, and audiences crowded into the theaters. For both north and south, the theater provided an outlet through which Americans could enjoy plays, performances, music, and variety shows that appealed to all social classes of American society. However, in order to understand the operations of theater companies during the war itself, it is first essential to examine the state of the theater as a concept during the mid-nineteenth century, and in the pre-war years. …

Models Of Faith And Learning In Theatre At Colleges And Universities Affiliated With Churches Of Christ: Selected Case Studies, Catherine Louise Parker

Wayne State University Dissertations

The Churches of Christ, a body of Christian believers descending from the nineteenth century American Restoration Movement, have a well-documented history of establishing and supporting liberal arts colleges and universities. This study of theatre programs at three of these institutions--Lipscomb University, Pepperdine University, and York College--examines the model of faith and learning operating at each school and in its respective theatre department. This study utilizes a mixed-methods approach combining a multiple case study with a self-administered Likert-scale questionnaire, illuminating the ways that the schools describe their model of faith and learning, the ways that the theatre departments at the schools …

Afterword, Lindsey Mantoan

Faculty Publications

In this afterword to a special issue (On Time) of the journal Performance Research, co-editor Lindsey Mantoan posits what happens to a conference once it has ended.

Political And Protest Theatre After 9/11: Patriotic Dissent, Lindsey Mantoan

Faculty Publications

Lindsey Mantoan reviews Political and Protest Theatre after 9/11: Patriotic Dissent (edited by Jenny Spencer) for Theatre Topics.

Technology And Wonder In Thirteenth-Century Iberia And Beyond, Christopher B. Swift

Publications and Research

As the desire for affective experiences of the sacred increased in communities across Europe in the late Middle Ages, the Christian faithful crafted lifelike, mechanized figures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints for use in religious festivals. Although each devotional culture evidences unique body/object relationships and meanings, in general animated ritual objects encouraged lay participation in the celebration of saints and the Passion by engaging the senses, and, consequently, an emotional sense of God. In this essay I investigate the ritual alliances between moveable, prop-like saints and their Iberian devotees, in particular the performative meanings that arose from encounters …

Recreating Paris In Les Miserables, Joel Schiebout

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This document is a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre. It is a detailed account of author Joel Schiebout's technical process in the construction of the set for Minnesota State University, Mankato's production of Les Misérables in the fall of 2013. The thesis chronicles the author's technical process from pre-production through post-production in five chapters: an early production analysis, a historical and critical perspective, a construction process journal, a post-production analysis and a process development analysis. Appendices and works cited are included.

The Scene Design For Kiss Of The Spider Woman, Noah Jon Michael Files

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis contains a detailed account of Noah J. Files's scene design research and process for Kiss of the Spider Woman by Terrence McNally, John Kander and Fred Ebb. The musical was produced in the Andreas Theatre, opening January 30 and closing February 8, 2014. The first chapter is a preliminary analysis of the plot, the designer's first intentions and reactions to the scenic requirements, and the designer's goals for the production. The second chapter is an historical and critical analysis providing perspective into the history of the musical and research to illuminate the designer's choices. The third chapter is …

Ayacucho, Goodbye And The Portrayal Of A Nation's Contradictions, Oswaldo Gavidia Cannon

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Peru lived difficult times with the escalation of terrorism. People living in the Andean rural areas were caught between two fires- the terrorists and the military sent to control the latter- and many innocent people were killed or disappeared. Based on these events, Julio Ortega wrote the novella Ayacucho, Goodbye. In this narrative, the dead body of an indigenous peasant leaves his grave in Ayacucho and begins a journey to Lima, the capital of Peru, looking for the parts of his body that were not buried with him, which is really a quest …

Writing The Wrongs: How Gay And Lesbian Playwrights Use The Paranormal In Autobiographical Writing, George William Zorn

Dissertations

Playwrights have been using ghost and spirit-characters in stage works since the classical era. From their beginnings as speechless, vengeful catalysts and informational narrators, the ghost-character has evolved to something that would not be recognizable to Greek playwrights. This is no more evident than in the works of contemporary gay and lesbian dramatists. Examining the selected works of playwrights Claudia Allen, Larry Kramer and Victor Bumbalo will illuminate the use of ghosts and the paranormal by these playwrights as a way to overcome personal trauma by either creating closure with autobiographical scenes or by using the absence of these characters …

Twelfth Night, November 7-9, 2013, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare and directed by Siobhan Bremer.

Synopsis: Twelfth Night—an allusion to the night of festivity preceding the Christian celebration of the Epiphany—combines love, confusion, mistaken identities, and joyful discovery.After the twins Sebastian and Viola survive a shipwreck, neither knows that the other is alive. Viola goes into service with Count Orsino of Illyria, disguised as a young man, "Cesario." Orsino sends Cesario to woo the Lady Olivia on his behalf, but Olivia falls in love with Cesario. Viola, in the meantime, has fallen in love with Orsino.At the estate of …

Side Show: The Musical Direction, Morgan D. Hurd

Music

No abstract provided.

Summer Of Shrew, Part 4: Which End’S Up?, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

In the last of a four-part series on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner explores how expanding the range of the titular Shrew to include male characters is actually a return to its original meaning. Pollack-Pelzner focuses on a long-forgotten Renaissance sequel to Shrew (John Fletcher's The Tamer Tamed) that takes the taming of men even further and turns its gender roles upside down.

Summer Of Shrew, Part 3: A Sly Conceit, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

In the third of a four-part series on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner asks, what if Kate’s story isn’t the play’s only reality? Pollack-Pelzner explores how a drunken beggar and an earlier version of the script shift the brawling balances of the play and call into question who the real shrew is.