Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Noises Off

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2012 performance of Noises Off by Michael Frayn.

Noises Off is a farce involving the small cast of a play and how their offstage drama impacts their onstage drama.

The Conditions Of Production Surrounding “Crawling With Monsters”: A Way To Create Social Consciousness Through Theatre In South Texas, Jorge Augusto Contreras

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Evaluating theatre's actual contribution to social development is subjective. There is a specific field of study that has been born from the need to incorporate all theatre outside the mainstream that seeks to do more than entertain an audience: “Applied Drama” or “Applied Theatre.” This study argues that through the process of creating the play Crawling with Monsters a group of UTPA students were empowered to make social change and ended up doing a critically acclaimed applied drama project regarding Mexico's drug war. After an introduction to the formation of the group and the situation to which it was responding, …

Starting A Standardized Patient Program Using A Theatre Model, Richard Edward Carter

Theses and Dissertations

The methods used to train actors can be modified to train standardized patients to simulate patient encounters with medical students. With some background in standardized patients and simulation, a member of Theatre Department can start a standardized patient program at their own institution. This is based on the pilot year of the VCU Standardized Patient Program which began in June, 2011.

A Pedagogical Perspective On Storytelling Through Movement And Dance, Penny Maas

Theses and Dissertations

Dance in most musical theatre is an assumed visual element and something that is often taken for granted in production. What is its purpose is the question being pondered in this paper. Since Agnes de Mille first presented her legendary dream ballet in Oklahoma! in 1943, theatrical dance has never been the same. She revolutionized the function of dance in theatre forever. No longer would dance merely be used as interludes or divertissements. Though a seemingly simple theatrical concept, to use movement and choreography to either further the plot or to communicate a character’s journey, it is not only much …

Understanding Experience: Reflections On The Empowering Nature Of Story, Sarah Provencal

Theses and Dissertations

Technological growth has changed our relationships and interactions within society and theatre artists are calling into question the future of our art form. Are we still essential? And if so, how do we renovate our form in order to relate to our changing society? In my experience, I’ve found that all renovations of our art have one thing in common: the empowering nature of story. Story helps us to understand our experiences in life. It is not the self, the cause, or the goal that is behind the wheel, but the story itself. This thesis explores three instances of the …

Power And Relationships In The Plays Of Neil Labute: Directing And Performing In Some Girl(S), Mary Peyton Griffith

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the major works of Neil LaBute's career as a playwright and screenwriter, including the criticism he has received on theatrical and literary levels. The themes most prevalent in the thesis are the use of power and manipulation in the relationships between LaBute's characters and the ongoing maturation of his characters that coincides with the maturation of his work. The second section of the thesis follows the production, directing, and acting in LaBute's play Some Girl(s).

A Pilgrim, An Outlaw: Features Of Dramatic Adaptation And Theodore Dreiser’S Sister Carrie, Matt Dicintio

Theses and Dissertations

Although there are countless manuals devoted to playwriting, very few take up the craft of dramatic adaptation in a practical context. My rendering of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie is an exploration of fundamental elements that require consideration when adapting for the stage. My approach to the characters’ inarticulateness reveals an inherent theatricality in the novel, which both respects Dreiser’s themes and makes them accessible through the conventions of the stage. I suggest the craft of dramatic adaptation should strike a delicate balance between being a “pilgrim” toward the intentions of the source and an “outlaw” in its innovative theatrical representation …

Method In Motion: Grounding A Movement Pedagogy In The Lessons Of Stanislavski, Kevin Inouye

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of movement pedagogy as a continuation of basic acting lessons from Stanislavski. Using the example of an introductory semester of movement instruction, physical acting and movement concepts are explained in terms of their connection to and derivation from universally accepted acting terminology and ideas. This is put forth as a way to facilitate the synthesis of movement instruction with other acting curriculum, as well as providing a new way to view some familiar acting concepts. Several specific examples are explored in more depth as case studies in physical equivalents to the intellectual, visual, or emotional …

Performing Tennessee Williams, Augustine Correro Iii

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is dedicated to illustrating the unique challenges of staging works by the playwright Tennessee Williams, and to making suggestions on how to avoid common pitfalls in production, performance, and direction of his plays. It uses evidence from the playwright’s various biographical works as well as insight and conjecture from the author’s experience to illuminate these challenges and help the reader to avoid hackneyed or ineffective staging practices. It touches on the effect of film adaptations on stage performances; the typical portrayal of American Southern characters onstage; the aural ramifications of Williams’s poetry to a now-visually-centered audience; stylistic elements …

I Just Knew: Love Stories From Westminster Village, Allison M. Sutton

Honors Projects

My project focuses on the goal of learning to create an ethnodrama (a theatre piece created from qualitative research data) based on stories from a specific community, to be performed for that community. I plan to conduct a focus group and 6-8 interviews at Westminster Village, workshop a staged reading of a new hour-long play based on texts from the interviews and focus group with IWU theatre students, and perform this staged reading at Westminster Village for the participants in my study and invited guests. I hope to learn qualitative research methodologies, including entering the field and conducting focus groups …

The Voice Of Ritual: A Pedagogical Exploration Teaching Body And Breath Using The Principles Of Ritual Poetic Drama Within The African Continuum, Jacquelynn Camden

Theses and Dissertations

THE VOICE OF RITUAL: AN EXPLORATION TEACHING BODY AND BREATH USING THE PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF RITUAL POETIC DRAMA WITHIN THE AFRICAN CONTINUUM By Jacquelynn Rae Camden, MFA Candidate A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts Theatre Pedagogy: Voice and Speech & Ritual Poetic Drama Within the African Continuum at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2012 Major Director: Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, Theatre The focus of my undergraduate training and the concentration of my graduate work have been specifically in two areas: Ritual Poetic Drama Within the African Continuum under the …

A Streetcar Named Desire (April 6-7, 12-14, 2012), Tennessee Williams

Student Theatre Programs

Program for A Streetcar Named Desire (April 6-7, 12-14, 2012).

Hedda Gabler Program [2012], University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2011-2012 Season

By Henrik Ibsen

Directed by William Steele

This production was a Participating entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KC/ACTF).

Memory Of Water Scenic Design-- Reinventing Memories On Stage, Xuehui (Kate) Li

Honors Theses and Capstones

My paper describes my process of designing the set for the UNH Theatre and Dance Department production The Memory of Water. Linking dream and reality together, the set design of the show is my attempt and process of putting the non-realistic elements into a more tangible form-- reinventing the memories on the stage.

Once Upon A Mattress (March 8-11, 2012), Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, Marshall Barer

Student Theatre Programs

Program for Once Upon a Mattress (March 8-11, 2012).

The Drowsy Chaperone Program [2012], University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2011-2012 Season

Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison

Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar

Directed by Assunta Kent

Musical Direction by Edward Reichert

This production was a Participating entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KC/ACTF).

A 21st Century Love Letter, Rachel Nagelberg

SPECS journal of art and culture

No abstract provided.

Demo_Noir [Manifesto.1], Tristan Newcomb

SPECS journal of art and culture

No abstract provided.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (February 2-4, 2012), William Shakespeare

Student Theatre Programs

Program for A Midsummer Night's Dream (February 2-4, 2012).

Eurydice Program [2012], University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2011-2012 Season

By Sarah Ruhl

Directed by Meghan Brodie

This production was a Participating entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KC/ACTF).

Manipulating Fate: Medical Innovations, Ethical Implications, Theatrical Illuminations, Karen H. Rothenberg, Lynn W. Bush

Faculty Scholarship

Transformative innovations in medicine and their ethical complexities create frequent confusion and misinterpretation that color the imagination. Placed in historical context, theatre provides a framework to reflect upon how the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies evolve over time and how attempts to control fate through medical science have shaped -- and been shaped by -- personal and professional relationships. The drama of these human interactions is powerful and has the potential to generate fear, create hope, transform identity, and inspire empathy -- a vivid source to observe the complex implications of translating research into clinical practice through …

Flier For Macbeth, Mary Moynihan

Concert Programmes

No abstract provided.

Acting For Change – Four Drama Workshop Models In Anti-Racism, Anti-Sectarianism, Human Rights And Gender Equality And Storytelling To Promote Reconciliation, Mary Moynihan

Books/Book Chapters

This booklet is written by Mary Moynihan and produced by Smashing Times Theatre Company Limited as part of Acting for Change, a year-long arts programme using high quality drama and theatre processes to promote reconciliation within Donegal and on a cross-community, cross-border basis. As part of the project, in addition to presenting a professional theatre performance and seminar, the company developed four new awareness raising participative drama workshop models, designed by Mary Moynihan to promote anti-racism, anti-sectarianism, equality and storytelling for reconciliation.

The four drama workshop models are printed in full in this booklet along with resource information for drama …

Perception, Power, Plays, And Print: Charles Ii And The Restoration Theatre Of Consensus, Christopher William Nelson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation aims to establish the importance of Charles II in the shaping and evolution of Restoration theatre. Even more so than the playwrights themselves, Charles II determined the future of the theatre, both by his conscious efforts to do so, as well as unintentionally through his own behavior and image. The tradition of Restoration theatre began in 1660 with Charles’s efforts at establishing a consensus theatre, in which it would appear that he enjoyed unanimous support for his return to England from exile. Consensus theatre was determined by the perception of Charles’s rule and character, his power to manipulate …

The Masks Of Commedia Del’Arte, Noh Theater And Classical Greece: The Cultural Meanings, Influences And Similarities, Makena Bennett

A with Honors Projects

This essay examines the use and meanings of masks in Noh, commedia dell'art, and classical Greek theatre.

(The “Avos” Phenomenon: A Non-Censured Theatre In The Novosibirsk University, 1975-1976). In: Mosty (The Bridges), Frankfurt, Germany, 2012, 33: 204–257.] [Part 1], Victor Fet, Serge Camyshani, Aleksandr Troitsky, Oleg Polyankov, Elena Fedorovskaya, Aleksandr Butorin, Mark Taraban, Sergei Kovalenko

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

In 1975-1976, a group of science students of the Novosibirsk University (Russia, Siberia) created a small theatre that managed to avoid the official censorship for the entire season. In this memoir, several former actors, now scattered across the world, reconstruct the detailed history of their “Phenomenon” theatre 35 years later. The central event was the (first) staging (December 1975) of Andrey Voznesensky’s long poem “Avos'!”, long before the famous rock opera appeared.

теъане

В 1975-1976 гг. группа студентов Факультета Естественных Наук Новосибирского университета (Академгородок) умудрилась создать свой неподцензурный маленький театр «Феномен», который успел просуществовать целый сезон. В этих мемуарах бывших …

Ballplayer, An Addiction Story: A Production Thesis Of A Solo Performance Piece, Nickolas Ian Rhoton

LSU Master's Theses

The thesis assignment was to create a stand-alone solo performance piece of no less than 30 minutes in length. The absence of any further guidelines provided the opportunity to focus on a subject (or subject matter) of my choosing. Researching symptoms and tendencies of addictive personality disorder as a basis for a class-based performance assignment led me to Eric Show, a pitcher who played professional baseball in the 1980s and early 1990s. Eric’s life was both heartbreaking and compelling. This thesis follows the adaptation of a number of stories and interviews about Show into a performance piece that seeks to …

New Orleans Center For Creative Arts: A History In Progress, Suzanne Michelle Blanchard Chambliss

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the state of Louisiana, a quality education for secondary school students can be hard to come by in any area of study much less in the areas of the arts. The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) provides a quality education to those talented students who audition and are accepted into the program. NOCCA has only existed since 1974 and in its relatively short life it has become a model for half-day pre-professional training programs throughout the United States and it has proven that it is possible to receive a quality education in Louisiana.

Prodigal, Jonathan R. White

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Following a similar pattern of the classic Biblical story of “The Prodigal Son”, the play allows for a modernization of the characters and setting. Set in 1968, the playwright takes a look at what happened after the “Prodigal Son” returned home as well as the effect the return had upon the Son that stayed as well as the Father. How can family relationships survive in the midst of lies and turmoil of a time of great change in America’s history.

Dance Usm! Program [2011], University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2011-2012 Season

Directed by Maria Tzianabos

Associate Director: Janette Hough-Fertig