Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Libertad Perpetua, Jose Durango

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

NA

Dancing By Numbers: Dance's Expanding Presence In Library Classifications Of The Progressive Era, Dominique Bourassa

Library Staff Publications

Library classifications are artificial systems that use numbers, letters, and symbols to map knowledge as the basis for organizing the contents of libraries. Inevitably influenced by social forces and cultural values, the Dewey Decimal, Cutter Expansive, and Library of Congress classification systems offer a unique perspective to study the status and identity of dance between 1876 and 1930. From the standpoint of library taxonomies, dance evolves during this period from an indoor amusement with moral implications to a recognized art form and discipline.

Keeping The Peace: Playback Theatre With Adolescents, Timothy J. Reagan

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to understand the experience of a Playback Theatre (Playback) program for adolescents addressing themes of bullying perpetration and victimization. The guiding question for the study was: What was the phenomenological experience for homeless youth participating in Keep the Peace Leadership Program, a Playback program at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY? The sample consisted of 11 youth residing at the Coachman Family Center in White Plains, NY, 11 Manhattanville students, and four adults from Big Apple Playback Theatre in NY. Participants completed the forms of bullying scale (FBS) so the researcher could measure bullying climates …

Fifty Years Of Ariane Mnouchkine And The Théâtre Du Soleil: The Director As Dramaturge, Theater Historian, And Public Intellectual, Allen J. Kuharski

Theater Faculty Works

This essay frames a critical summary of the fifty-year professional history of contemporary French director Ariane Mnouchkine and her company, the Théâtre Du Soleil, with the author's twenty-year-long teaching of a seminar on theater history at Swarthmore College with Mnouchkine's work as the theme. Mnouchkine's theatrical career provides a vehicle for five areas of critical inquiry: Company- or ensemble-based theater-making; the theory and practice of contemporary directing; diverse practices of production dramaturgy; the project of theater history as archive, critical practice, and artistic resource; and the role of the theater artist as public intellectual. The essay presents Mnouchkine and her …

On And Off The Stage: A Look At Working With The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Alyssa Whiddon

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Festivals like the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival allow students an intensive hands-on experience with theatrical principles seen in the professional theatrical world. There are many aspects of professional theatre, and at times, colleges that offer theatrical degrees cannot offer the full scale of practical experience needed to succeed in theatre as a profession. After outlining and analyzing three years of festival experience, it can be seen that festivals help to create a greater understanding of what is needed to work in theatre professionally. One must understand organization and management structure, as well as the fundamentals of acting, directing, …

Dancing Between The Intangible And The Tangible: Investigating Silence And Stillness In The Rehearsal And Performance Process Of Tango/Rouge, Mckenzie Cochran

Dance Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

Prisoner In The Darkness, Joseph Lee Morris

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis details the writing process and performance of the author’s one man show, PRISONER IN THE DARKNESS. Adapted with special permission from Naghmeh Abedini, PRISONER IN THE DARKNESS is based on the letters, correspondences, and reports of Saeed Abedini, an American citizen, imprisoned in Iran. Pastor Saeed went back to his homeland to work on humanitarian efforts; however, he was wrongfully arrested and sent to Evin Prison in September 2012. In January 2013, Saeed was sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiring to undermine the Iranian government. His crime? His Christian faith. This thesis will explain the different …

Props Management In Professional And Educational Institutions, Matthew David Duvall

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis is a study of common practices and unique challenges of theatrical prop shop management in universities and how this compares to professional theaters and other prop producing organizations. The following pages will identify the commonalities and differences between prop shops in terms of management of budgets, schedules and personnel and will offer examples of common current practices. Also reproduced here is a survey of prop managers and its results, which was developed to produce facts and figures which are used as evidence. A direct comparison of educational and professional theater institutions has not been published. The evidence presented …

A Cleansing Breath: A Journey Of Creation On The Hard Road, Addie Leigh Barnhart

LSU Master's Theses

To adhere to the structure of Louisiana State University and Swine Palace’s Actor Training program, the M.F.A. candidates are required to develop new work. This project is in place to cultivate the individual actor’s sensitivities to his/her own process in theatre making, grow as an artist, and begin the long journey of devising and constructing work, in this case a solo play, that has the potential to continue to grow after graduation. My piece is derived from several of the classic Greek plays and myths but told with a twist on the traditional stories and entirely from different women’s perspectives. …

Reupholstery: A Guide For Prop Masters, Kathryn Leigh Brittingham

LSU Master's Theses

Upholstery is something that is often looked upon as a daunting task. With a full guide to reinforcement for stage use, options in foundations, and charts to compute fabric yardages, this thesis will provide professional prop masters with a guide to heighten their standards of upholstery onstage. Featuring options and ideals for varying skill sets; it will assist prop masters with more information regarding the topic with options particular to the theatrical profession. In lieu of an expansive library of upholstery books that feature a variety of techniques, the information included in this document will serve as a supplemental guide …

Augmented Renaissance: From Creation To Revelation, Christopher Atkinson

LSU Master's Theses

During the summer of 2013, the M.F.A. acting ensemble at Louisiana State University was charged with devising solo performance projects that would be performed December 6-14, 2014. We were given artistic freedom to create shows that could cover different topics and a variety of genres. The writing and performance of this project served as a graduation requirement, but was also pitched as a professional opportunity post graduation. Initially I opposed this project, but I soon became elated once I chose my subject matter. I knew that if I was going to perform a solo piece for 30-40 minutes it had …

El Papel Del Teatro En La Re-Articulación De La Experiencia Cívica: La Mirada Crítica De "Argos Teatro" En La Puesta En Escena De Aire Frío, De Virgilio Piñera, Karina Elizabeth Vázquez

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Estas reflexiones tienen como propósito indagar sobre las formas en las que la actual práctica teatral cubana abre espacios de diálogo y reflexión crítica sobre la historia y los sujetos. Sin duda, las crisis de orden político y económico que han aquejado a las sociedades latinoamericanas en las últimas décadas redujeron las posibilidades materiales para la producción teatral, especialmente por fuera de los circuitos metropolitanos. No obstante, la continua y numerosa realización de propuestas escénicas de diversa índole en cuanto a prácticas, género y públicos, confirma la fuerza y la vitalidad de las prácticas teatrales en estos contextos difíciles. Al …

City Limits And Other Stories, Leandro Fefer

Whittier Scholars Program

This project is a collection of short-stories. There is a three-part and design story titled City Limits and six other stories. The bibliography is a list of sources of information and inspiration with notes about each.

Childhood Incidence Rates For Lymphoma In California: Rural Versus Urban County Comparison, Natalie Edelman

Whittier Scholars Program

Cancer use to be more rare in children, but now we are dealing with an increased rate for Childhood Cancer in the United States. Adults and children are both at risk for these potentially deadly diseases. The problem with cancer is that there is still so much about this disease that is unknown. There are many different speculations as to how cancer enters the body and things that can trigger cancer. The environment in which a child is raised in has long since been questioned as being a link or cause for specific childhood cancers. To understand this potential link …

The Theater's Many Enemies, Logan Connors

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Queer Provisionality: Mapping The Generative Failures Of The Transborder Immigrant Tool, Alison R. Reed

English Faculty Publications

Alison Reed investigates the border- and boundary-crossing performance of Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0’sTransBorder Immigrant Tool (TBT), an incomplete cell phone program that offers GPS, guidance, and poetry to those attempting to cross into the United States across the Mexico/US border. Reed suggests a provocation-based performance of “queer provisionality,” revealing the aesthetics of oppressive power structures by juxtaposing them to social utopias. Interrogating the national neoliberal project of both US liberalism and US conservatism, Reed’s essay is also a transcription of the performances launched around TBT, the social and political machinery set into motion by Electronic Disturbance Theater’s failed utopian project.

The Curse Of The V: Contemporary Feminist Movements And Performative Dichotomies In The Plays Of Caryl Churchill, Meredith A. Connelly

Honors Program Theses

Caryl Churchill mixes historical setting with shallowly defined characters and dissociative references to the contemporary within her vast body of work. She seeks to deny her audience the opportunity to blindly accept the entertainment of narrative theater, forcing them instead into a realm of discomfort where they must identify the unsavory elements of history with their own lived experience. This research began with the questioning of previous critical models which examine characters as autonomous beings rather than as personified themes, and asks how Churchill responds radically with theater as a medium to events pervading her own experience as a woman …

Hamlet #Princeofdenmark: Exploring Gender And Technology Through A Contemporary Feminist Re-Interpretation Of Hamlet, Allegra B. Breedlove

Scripps Senior Theses

Exploring the process of designing, producing, directing and starring in a multimedia feminist re-interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet set in a contemporary social media landscape.

"If More Women Knew More Jokes...": The Comic Dramaturgy Of Sarah Ruhl And Sheila Callaghan, Jennifer Ann Goff

Wayne State University Dissertations

Conversations around women and comedy are few, and tend to swirl around the tired question of whether or not women are funny. Conclusions usually range from, "They're not" to a few token funny women whose exceptional wit proves the rule that, in fact, women are not funny. Or, if women are funny, they have a specific, feminine brand of humor that has an almost genetic set of differences from men's comedy. In this dissertation, rather than outlining an essentialized poetics of "women's comedy," I identify two prominent women writing comedy for the theatre today. Drawing on comic, dramatic and feminist …

Teaching Technical Theater: Learning, Not Just Doing, Christian J. Hershey

Theses and Dissertations

I have seen a trend in the teaching of technical theatre towards a more practical and less theoretical education. This has brought about a change in viewpoint by professional technicians, as well as students, in regards to an academic degree. Due to this change and the rise of student debt, the impulse has been to encourage going directly into the field and learning the craft there instead of spending four years in an academic institution.

There has also been increased pressure on theatre departments to produce larger and more involved shows; both to draw in new students and to justify …

An Exploration Of Costume Design For David Emerson Toney's "Frankenstein: Dawn Of A Monster", Emily Atkins

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the Costume Design process for David Emerson Toney’s Frankenstein: Dawn of a Monster at Virginia Commonwealth University. Toney’s original adaptation interprets Mary Shelley’s genre-defying novel as biography, directly influenced by the tragic events of her young life. Costumes differentiate the two narratives, with Mary Shelly in gray scale, regency-inspired modern dress and the novel in period and color. This follows the design process from concept to production to execution.

Interdisciplinary Connections Between Science & Theatre, Jessica N. Dotson

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SCIENCE & THEATRE

Jessica Nicole Dotson

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

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2015.

Major Director: Dr. Noreen C. Barnes, Director of Graduate Studies, Associate Professor of Theatre

In the 1990s, astronomer Peter Usher was searching for new ways to teach his introductory astronomy class at Pennsylvania State University. He began to engage his students by searching for astronomical connections from other disciplines. His focus was turned to the arts, especially the works of William Shakespeare. Usher found, while …

An Exploration On The Michael Chekhov Technique In Rehearsal, Performance And The Classroom, James P. Stover

Theses and Dissertations

• The Michael Chekhov Technique is a unique approach to acting that has been successfully used by professional actors for many years. This thesis explores finding a strong understanding of the technique as well as discovering ways to incorporate it into an undergraduate actor training program. The examination aims to further my aesthetic both as theatre teacher and practitioner. It includes training with master teachers in the technique, incorporating Chekhov exercises into undergraduate acting and movement classes and use of the technique on a production of Pride & Prejudice.

Cries From Within: The Struggles And Triumphs Of Creating A Singaporean Voice In Musical Theatre, Caleb Goh

Theses

This research explores the plausibility of replicating a Broadway-type musical theatre industry in Asia. What would it take to establish a similar standard of musical theatre in an Asian country? With the problem being a lack of Asian representation in the genre, my aim has unashamedly been to see whether it was possible to increase the visibility of Asian musical theatre in form and content, with greater representation for makers and audience. By exploring the viability of creating a strong musical theatre platform in Asia, this research aimed to empower student/emerging Asian performers in believing that the dominant paradigm of …

From Anti-Theater To Anti-Theatricality, Logan Connors

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

“Man? Where’S A Man? Don’T Let Him Go!”: Molina’S Trans/Gender Web In Interpretation And Performance, Bella V. Smith

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Using perspectives typical of English and theatrical fields of study, this capstone project interprets Molina from Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel Kiss of the Spider Woman as a heterosexual transgender woman and then investigates why such an interpretation does not exist in performance adaptations. Although Molina has been called a transgender woman in recent criticism, there is a conflation of gender and sexuality that has been uninvestigated in this text. It has not been addressed how Molina constructs her identity or how this interpretation might be employed in performance, which this essay seeks to confront. The first half of the project …

V.1 2015-2016, Center For Arts & Language, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

v.1 is a publishing platform for the ongoing work, ideas, discussions, debates, and aspirations of students at the Rhode Island School of Design. The 2015-2016 issue contains articles on addressing the complexities surrounding today's institutions, pedagogies, technologies, and professional expectations. This issue was not themed intentionally, yet the articles signal the problems of higher education and the precarity of the students who occupy it.

Ages Of [Wo]Man, Amanda Jane Clark

LSU Master's Theses

Ages of [Wo]Man, was written to fulfill the thesis requirements of a solo performance for the M.F.A in Acting at Louisiana State University (LSU) in May 2015. The purpose of this project is to write, produce and perform a solo performance, to be reproduced after my time here at LSU. This paper documents the conception of my work, adaptation of Shakespeare’s text, rehearsal process and production of this piece. It contains five chapters. Chapter 1 is comprised of an introduction and discussion of how I decided on the topic for my solo performance. Chapter 2 continues with a layout of …

Writes Of Spring 2014: Fostering Creativity In Theatre, Education, And Leadership, Alexandra Hodson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Creativity is valued in many fields. In theatre, creativity celebrates the imaginative power of a theatrical experience. In theatre for young audiences (TYA), creativity is extended from the stage to the classroom, where theatre empowers learning through creative and imaginative teaching. Teaching artists and theatre makers in the field of theatre for young audiences utilize creativity as a means of connecting artistic and educational value. Through professional development and qualitative research, this project demonstrates the importance of creativity and its role in the classroom and on stage. This study examines my role as Project Coordinator in Orlando Repertory Theatre's (The …

The Branding, Creation, And Promotion Of A Solo Comedienne, Anna Mccorison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Comedy exists as a stronghold in American culture as a coping mechanism throughout history, but is often limited to the male headliner. From Charlie Chaplin to Jackie Gleason and Bill Cosby to Will Ferrell, men have kept us laughing from stages to screen throughout the last century. Thus, I inquire: who are the prominent women who rose to the top of this male-dominated industry and how did they create a brand for themselves that was distinguishable and celebrated? What is it about being a woman in the last century that made making a name in comedic entertainment more cumbersome, and …