Other Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Properties Design For George C. Wolfe’S The Colored Museum, Giavanna Vainisi

Honors Theses

This thesis details the properties design process for the University of Southern Mississippi’s Fall 2025 production of George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum. Through analysis of the script, research into the subject matter and playwright, and collaboration with the artistic team, this student designed and constructed effective properties for this production.

It’S Not A Phase, It’S A…Musical?: The Innate Theatricality Of The Emo Movement Of The 2000s, Kylie Alyssa Price

Honors Theses

This project is an exploration of the rock subgenres emo and pop-punk and how they interact with musical theatre conventions. Emo, short for emotional hardcore, is a descendant of hardcore punk music that is characterized by its focus on the emotional core of lyrics as well as softer, more pop-influenced sounds musically. In this project, the history of emo is delineated alongside the history of rock musical theatre. Subculture is also defined as it relates to this thesis. The natural theatricality of emo is then characterized as being through emo/pop-punk’s performance culture, through the existence of the concept album, and …

Once In A Lifetime: Designing Hair And Makeup For The Era Of Sound, Olga Goupalova

Honors Theses

This thesis describes the design process of an undergraduate theatre student creating hair and makeup looks for a production of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s Once in a Lifetime, presented by the University of Southern Mississippi in the Fall of 2021. This thesis involved a detailed analysis of characters, the collection of primary research from the Roaring Twenties period, and constant communication with both the production team and the performers in order to achieve the most functional yet aesthetically pleasing hair and makeup designs possible.

Keywords: Hair, Makeup, Design, Theatre, Once in a Lifetime, Roaring Twenties, George S. …

"To Control A Human Destiny:" Sound Design For Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, Allison Bucher

Honors Theses

This undergraduate thesis details the sound design process for the University of Southern Mississippi’s Fall 2021 production of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. Through analysis of the script style of the play, research of the playwright, and collaboration with the artistic team, this student created and implemented an effective sound design for this production.

Keywords: sound, design, theatre, Hedda Gabler, Ibsen

When I Grow Up: Intimacy Work And Collegiate Theatre, Anna-Carson Tyner

Honors Theses

The field of intimacy work within the wider theatre industry is rapidly growing, and universities should be prepared to meet the demands the industry is setting forth. Since 2016, intimacy direction has been making its way into the professional theatre world. As intimacy work becomes more mainstream, students will enter college with the ultimate goal of going into the field. Through this research, I have set out to create courses that could fit into the framework of a collegiate theatre program that would support students’ desire to learn about the intimacy field, and to create a department environment built on …

“More Beautiful Than God!”: Hair And Makeup Design For Eugene O’Neill’S Ah, Wilderness, Jackson L. Jones

Honors Theses

This thesis follows an undergraduate theatre designer’s process of designing and realizing hair and makeup for the University of Southern Mississippi’s Spring 2020 production of Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness! The student conducted a thorough script analysis, researched Edwardian style and society, and collaborated with the production’s artistic team to produce effective hair and makeup designs and fulfill practicum requirements.

The Challenges And Limitations Of Adapting Mozart's Così Fan Tutte For A Small University Setting, Christopher Lovely

Dissertations

In this dissertation, challenges and limitations related to presenting Così fan tutte within a small university setting are conveyed, as well as offering innovative ideas to create a manageable presentation. I recall my personal experience as Korepititor/Vocal Coach for The University of Southern Mississippi’s 2014 production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. This document presents topics on the various workings of an opera production: pre-rehearsal preparation, language issues, rehearsal preparation, selection of singers, and production issues. It offers practical solutions to overcome various challenges a small university may encounter. Smaller university opera programs were surveyed regarding their adaptations of …

The Art Of The Dress: How Getting Into Costume Affects An Actor’S Self-Perception, Ella Embry

Honors Theses

Both actors and psychologists devote enormous amounts of time to understanding how people think, act, and respond even if for completely different reasons. While there are psychological studies that look at the way clothing influences attraction, aggression, and attitude, none of it looks critically at theatrical performance. Costuming is a vital part of the theatrical process that has yet to be studied empirically. As such, my study is an inter-disciplinary endeavor dedicated to developing an understanding of exactly how and whether costuming affects an actor’s personality perception as a way to contribute to the field of psychology, future theatrical performances, …

Choral Theatre, Albert Joseph Wolfe Jr.

Dissertations

Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain in 1962, after some 300 years of colonization. Prior to Independence, the standard arts education curriculum was decidedly British and Western European. That which was labeled Caribbean or Jamaican “folk” by the British was deemed inferior and was not taught, demonstrated, or performed in formal settings. Thus, generations of Jamaicans never observed or imagined a Caribbean aesthetic in the visual and performing arts. Instead, pre-Independence Jamaicans were taught British and Western European music and performed it the “British” way.

Today, Jamaicans boast a number of artistic developments that are instantly recognized across the …

Exhuming Ophelia: A Feminist, Costume Design Exploration, Shelby M. Gable

Honors Theses

Ophelia is a character that has captivated and moved audiences since her first appearance onstage in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark around the year 1600. Unfortunately, she represents a negative and slim representation of femininity that reflects a long-standing trend that has established a specific and limited iconic understanding of her character. As a feminist theatre maker I have undertaken a multi-phase approach to reconstructing Ophelia based on four separate approaches. First, I will examine how it is that Ophelia’s representation is harmful in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Second I will show how feminist readers and critics have approached the …

Moral Performances: Melodrama And Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Jeffrey Taylor Pusch

Dissertations

Despite a high number of ticket sales, theater reviews, and innumerable letters and diary entries detailing trips to the theater, the stereotype that theater in nineteenth-century America was almost culturally invisible continued well into the twentieth century. Indeed, a scan of anthologies of American literature fails to yield any examples of nineteenth-century drama, even though figures like Henry James were also theater critics and playwrights. Just as it did in American life, theater exhibits a strong presence in the literature of the time. Considering theater’s pervasiveness, this dissertation seeks to restore it to its proper place in our study of …