Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Take Note: An Investigation Of The Impact Of Human Computer Interaction On The Line Note Taking Process In Theatre, Rene Borr

Computer Science

Most technology used in the theatre was not originally designed for use in a theatrical setting. A majority of technology that we see on the state has been adapted from another field -- be it music, lighting, or construction -- to fit the production's specifics needs. The very nature of the theatre is that every performance is unique, which established one of the main challenges when creating technology to be used in the theatrical setting. This paper discusses the design, creation, and testing of a program to help stage managers take line notes during rehearsal for a theatrical production. We …

Identi-Tea Podcast: An Original Play, Karsyn Wilson

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Creative Works Winner for 2019:

Identi-Tea Podcast is an original play based on the word-for-word interviews of three LGBTQ+ students of color from UNLV who explore all the various facets of their identities formatted in the style of a podcast. In various moments during the play, audience members are prompted by the actors to critically engage with the ideas presented.

Greek Tragedy At Marion Correctional: An Exploration Of Directing Theatre In Prison, Elise G. Woods

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

In this project, I describe and analyze forces of freedom and coercion through the process of directing Trojan Women by Euripides at Marion Correctional Institution. This analysis documents each stage of the theatrical process—from project proposal to final performance and discussion—through ethnographic, arts-based research using personal observations, primary accounts from performers and audience members, and secondary sources. By exploring the experience of directing Trojan Women in the prison setting, I analyze forces of coercion and freedom in both theatre-making practices and prison. As a result, I assert the uniquely positive aspects and productive utilization's of coercion through theatre in a …

Unf Musical Theater Club Spring Showcase, University Of North Florida

Musical Theatre Club and Swoop Troupe Theatre Corporation Performances

Students act out a scene at the Musical Theater Club Spring Showcase

Unf Musical Theater Club Spring Showcase, University Of North Florida

Musical Theatre Club and Swoop Troupe Theatre Corporation Performances

Two students act out a scene at the Musical Theater Club Spring Showcase

Unf Musical Theater Club Spring Showcase, University Of North Florida

Musical Theatre Club and Swoop Troupe Theatre Corporation Performances

Four students act out a scene at the Musical Theater Club Spring Showcase

Musical Theater Club Spring Showcase Director's Speech, University Of North Florida

Musical Theatre Club and Swoop Troupe Theatre Corporation Performances

UNF's Musical Theater Spring Showcase

Center For Art & Theater News, Georgia Southern University

Center for Art & Theater (Archived)

• Georgia Southern master's student creates thesis exhibition by rolling the dice

Learning Dramatically With Linfield Theatre, Calder Ifft

Student Engagement Posters

Calder Ifft discusses student engagement at Linfield College with regard to learning outside the classroom through participation in the Linfield Theatre program.

Trespassing Physical Boundaries: Transgression, Vulnerability And Resistance In Sarah Kane’S Blasted (1995), Paula Barba Guerrero, Ana Mª Manzanas Calvo

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Sarah Kane’s Blasted has been analyzed from various perspectives that address the layers of destruction it exposes. From the questioning of its title and meaning, to the unravelling of the protagonists’ abusive relationship, the analyses have emphasized the depiction of vulnerability as the defining human trait that Jean Ganteau observes in contemporary British literature. However, a key aspect has been overlooked in the critical response to the play: for Kane vulnerability does not equal helplessness, but rather stands in opposition to it. Hence, this article concentrates on how Blasted formulates a new understanding of vulnerability that fits Judith Butler’s later …

Our Town (February 21-23, 2019), Thornton Wilder

Student Theatre Programs

Program for Our Town.

To view the photos from this production of Our Town, please click here.

Center For Art & Theater News, Georgia Southern University

Center for Art & Theater (Archived)

• Artist combines science, art in exhibition on Statesboro Campus
• Artist brings botanical prints to Georgia Southern Statesboro Campus

Learning The Interdisciplinary Aspects Of Stage Management, Brandon Lovejoy

Senior Honors Projects

TEDxURI is an independently organized event of TED Talks, a series of 5-20 minute long speeches about any topic surrounding a central theme. In 2019, the University of Rhode Island presented its second annual TEDx event, focused around the theme “Change It Up.” I was asked to perform the role of stage manager and coordinator for the event.

Stage management at the University level is taught for the theatrical stage. Often, students learn the basics of tracking actor movement, creating and organizing schedules, establishing a record of all paperwork, and throughout the process, displaying strong communication skills on a collaborative …

The Mixed Reception Of The Hamilton Premiere In Puerto Rico, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

In this article originally published in The Atlantic, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner wonders about the challenges of premiering the famed Broadway musical, Hamilton, during a time of political discord in the aftermath of 2017's Hurricane Maria, in Puerto Rico.

Center For Art & Theater News, Georgia Southern University

Center for Art & Theater (Archived)

• Artist brings unique collection to Georgia Southern Statesboro Campus
• Writer, naturalist blends poetry, art in exhibition on Statesboro Campus

Maternal Instinct: Exploring The Dynamic Between Mother And Non-Mother Characters In Contemporary Plays, Julia Moriarty

Wayne State University Dissertations

What happens when radical intentions meet ingrained narrative patterns? Focusing on Birth and After Birth by Tina Howe, Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) by Sheila Callaghan, and The How and the Why by Sarah Treem, this paper will unpack the way these texts address cultural attitudes surrounding motherhood and childlessness. A feminist lens will be applied to a dramaturgical study of these plays and the inherited legacies of mothers and non-mothers on stage with which these playwrights grapple. Despite their attempts to expose and dismantle the oppressive cycle of essentialized maternity, these plays all utilize a protagonist/antagonist structure to …

In Defense Of Grass Grows: A Play About Mental Illness, Amanda Grace Hughes

Honors Program Theses

My mission as a mentally ill theatre artist is to challenge the commonly-perpetuated fictions that restrict public perception of mentally ill persons [MIPs]. A meta-analysis of plays from the Greek, Medieval, Victorian, Melodramatic, Naturalist, and Post- Naturalist eras reflected just how little progress has been made at exposing and eliminating popular myths about mental illness. While the theatrical canon offers evidence for the inadequacy of current representations of MIPs, the psychological literature offers steps forward for the artists telling these stories. Efforts to improve artist sensitivity to the complex realities of mental illness fail to educate with fact alone (Dale, …

Dramatic Themes: Active Learning And Thematic Teaching In The Theatre History Classroom, Brandon Lareau

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores major texts dealing with pedagogical theory and active learning in the context of a theatre history class. By comparing a class which is taught in the traditional, chronological format relying heavily on lectures to a class taught in a newer, thematic format utilizing active learning the thesis defines what student-centered learning means. Active learning, its benefits, and its implementation are explained and explored, along with the advantages and benefits of teaching thematically instead of chronologically. All of this is applied to a theatre history class in the resulting syllabus in chapter three. The syllabus creates a curriculum …

“The Ground On Which I Stand” Healing Queer Trauma Through Performance: Crafting A Solo Performance Through The Investigation Of Ritual Poetic Drama Within The African Continuum, Ashley W. Grantham

Theses and Dissertations

“The Ground On Which I Stand”

Healing Queer Trauma through Performance:

Crafting a Solo Performance through the investigation of Ritual Poetic Drama within the African Continuum.

By: Ashley W. Grantham

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Performance Pedagogy at Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University

April 16^th, 2019

Thesis Adjudicator: Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates

Committee: Dr. Keith Byron Kirk, Director of Graduate Studies and Karen Kopryanski, Head of Voice and Speech

How does this method of Ritual Poetic Drama within the African Continuum, by extension, solo performance, …

The Scenic Design Of Bye Bye Birdie, Erin Wegleitner

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This paper is a complete description of the set design process for the 2018 production of Bye Bye Birdie, as designed by Erin Wegleitner. The submission of this document will serve to meet partial fulfillment of Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre. The content of this thesis will detail the preproduction analysis, historical and critical analysis, process, post-production analysis and review of artistic development. Within those chapters, all aspects of the set design are considered from the first concept to completed project. To support the paper appendices works cited and works consulted are included.

Cloud 9: Bringing The Abstract To Light, Thomas N. Gillette

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This document chronicles my journey designing the lighting for Carol Churchill’s Cloud 9 in the Creative Arts Center at West Virginia University. Starting with the initial read, this paper will continue through the early meetings and initial concepts discussed by the design team. Proceeding through the evolution of the design up to and throughout the tech process and will conclude with an evaluation of the overall experience. I have also provided a combination of paperwork items which were essential in the mounting of the production including: light plot, the channel hookup, cue list, and the EOS magic sheet. In addition, …

Constructed Languages And Their Role In Drama, Emelie Vandenberg

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper covers the history and use of constructed language and dialect on stage and screen as well as the issues that arise concerning social awareness and intellectual property.

Who Is Paying For God: A Thematic Analysis Of Henry Arthur Jones's Religious Plays In Relation To The Modernist Trend, Jay Tyler Sharma

All Master's Theses

This thesis project argues for the value of Henry Arthur Jones’s work in the late 1890s and seeks to illustrate that Jones’s contribution to the larger Modernist movement in the theatre. Using a close textual analysis of Jones’s plays Michael and His Lost Angel, Judah, and Saints and Sinners, this project examines Jones’s use of popular theatrical genres to provide commentary on the religious and fiscal tensions in the surrounding Victorian society. The critical commentary in Jones’s plays is then used to draw a connection between Jones’s work and his fight for dramatists to have greater freedom in the topics …

Audience At Into The Woods Musical, University Of North Florida

Musical Theatre Club and Swoop Troupe Theatre Corporation Performances

Audience waits to see the musical "Into the Woods"

The Set Of The Musical Into The Woods, University Of North Florida

Musical Theatre Club and Swoop Troupe Theatre Corporation Performances

UNF's Musical Theater Club's production of Into the Wood

Maureen Mccluskey With Two Actors, University Of North Florida

Musical Theatre Club and Swoop Troupe Theatre Corporation Performances

Director of Into the Woods, Maureen McCluskey with two actors

Into The Woods Opening Night, University Of North Florida

Musical Theatre Club and Swoop Troupe Theatre Corporation Performances

UNF's Musical Theater Club's production of Into the Woods at the Robinson Theater

Where Do We Go From Here? A Semi-Autobiographical Performance Exploration Into The Therapeutic Benefits Of Theatre, Emma Elliott

Scripps Senior Theses

My intention in this performance is to create a therapeutic theatrical process for myself and engage the audience with intense emotional vulnerability regarding the combination and validation of the nobody and performative self. I utilized both my vocal and acting training to work through emotional trauma that I have experienced and created a musical performance to demonstrate my journey of therapy and emotional reconciliation within myself and my family. I focused my research on using autobiographical performances to solidify and validate the identity of the performer to an audience. In doing so, this allows the performers to become the …

Best Practices To Promote Racial Unity In Theatre, Cassandra Epps

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I will be presenting a variety of practices that I believe will promote racial unity in theatre. I have included lesson plans and games that will help instructors create an open environment for students of all races. I will present research from theatre experts to conclude my best practices to create a more unified ensemble and culturally diverse curriculum in my theatre program, as well as present a list of activities, lesson plans, and production methods for directors and teachers to consider implementing. We as instructors must look critically at ourselves and our world view to begin …

Tone And Texture, Leather And Lace : A Case For Making Strong Choices In The Costume Design For The Three Musketeers., Emily L. Tappan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores and describes key factors in the design process leading to production of The Three Musketeers by Catherine Bush. The document encompasses the justification and discussion of the choices made during the research, design, and production stages of developing the play for the stage, as well as impressions gained throughout the process to use in future design projects.