Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons^™

Dramatic Form: In Theory And In Practice, Alexander Borrello

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

One of the most essential aspects of any dramatic work is dramatic form - the categorization of whether a given play is a tragedy, comedy, melodrama, or something else. Most dramatists argue that dramatic form is inherent to the play and cannot be changed. Typically, dramatic form is determined by the playwright's choice in writing the play, and many dramatic theorists believe this determination to be unquestionable. One such theorist, Giovanni Battista Guarini, wrote,

" ... And there is no doubt that anyone who imagines that he can make one of these genres slip in its entirety intothe confines of …

Three Readings Of Reading, Pennsylvania: Approaching Lynn Nottage’S Sweat And Douglas Carter Beane’S Shows For Days, Courtney Mohler, Christina Mcmahon, David Román

Scholarship and Professional Work – Arts

No abstract provided.

Hamlet Reinvents Himself, William Walsh

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

We see the early modern as an open carry society. Hamlet’s success in the swordplay at the end is usually seen as his triumph, fulfilling his father’s injunction at last. The 2013 RSC production of Hamlet projected ambiguity, which I share. The most intriguing angle was Hamlet’s costume. Jonathon Slinger very quickly donned half of a fencing jacket; but the straps of the jacket dangled, strongly suggesting a straight jacket. Half mad, half resolute, Hamlet is driven through much of the play until, I will argue, he reinvents himself as a mad version of divine providence. The providential idea is …

The Story Of Us: College As A Modern Rite Of Passage For Emerging Adults, Tamara Ulana Bodnar

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The movement from adolescence to adulthood has often been identified by certain rites of passage across cultures. These rites are ceremonious, ritualistic events such as a bar/bat mitzvah, marriage, and graduation, They indicate a transition from one stage of life to another and sometimes contain difficult obstacles and challenges that assist in the maturation process. College provides contemporary American students with a modern rite of passage; it is a time of transition between youth and the "real world" of adulthood. At its core, the purpose of going to college is to become educated, so that by the time one leaves, …

“A Little History Here, A Little Hollywood There”: (Counter-) Identifying With The Spanish Fantasy In Carlos Morton’S Rancho Hollywood And Theresa Chavez’S L.A. Real, Courtney Mohler

Scholarship and Professional Work – Arts

Often considered the final conquest and ultimate summation of Manifest Destiny, California holds a unique place in the American imaginary. While the popular mythology of the Spanish fantasy has served to obscure the use of violence and racialized oppression throughout the colonization of the American Southwest, traces of such struggle remain in memories of the colonized as they continue to occupy this contested space. This paper examines Carlos Morton’s ensemble-based political satire, Rancho Hollywood, and Theresa Chavez’s one-woman show, L.A. Real, to navigate the dynamic experience of contemporary Southern Californian racialized identity. These two pieces diverge stylistically but …

Romeo And Juliet, Courtney Mohler

Scholarship and Professional Work – Arts

No abstract provided.

Why Theatre? A Study Of Robert Wilson, Rachel Elinor Bennett

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Wilson’s unusual background influenced both the avantgarde nature of Wilson’s theatre and the humanity present in his work. Wilson accepts the people in his life as they are without trying to change them or ignore those differences. Wilson gives these people and their perspective, which society so often rejects, a voice. He sees art where others see a problem. Wilson’s theatre looks like nothing else, but his respect and acceptance of others, even those who are different and almost invisible to most of society, are just as innovative and refreshing to see in theatre.

Little (White) Women: Locating Whiteness In (De)Constructions Of The American Female From Alcott To Split Britches, Courtney Mohler

Scholarship and Professional Work – Arts

In 1988, the feminist/lesbian performance group Split Britches performed a deconstruction of Louisa May Alcott’s canonical Little Women. Their play, Little Women, the Tragedy (LWTT) highlighted the division within the feminist movement at the time over pornography, and called into question the norms of morality and feminine virtue reflected in and by Alcott’s classic ‘American girls’ novel.’ The play, however, illustrates a problematic construction of feminist/lesbian identity as outside of racial discourse. This paper argues that feminist performances which aim to deconstruct gender and sexuality should also be examined in terms of racialization; the common omission of …

Gogol: An Overview, David Paul Allen

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Christopher Fry's Contribution To Modern Drama, Jane Mcelroy

Graduate Thesis Collection

In a modern theatre increasingly preoccupied with the mundane, the sordid, the perverse, and the hopeless, Christopher Fry's plays loom like beacons~ For Hr. Fry finds the world, however chaotic, magnificent; and he chooses to explore its more civilized areas in a language undauntedly poetic, through characters cultivated enough to speak that poetry...

Social Analysis In The Ibsen Drama, Rebecca E. Pitts

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.