Performance Studies Commons^™

The Fight Master, Fall 2018, Vol. 40 Issue 2, The Society Of American Fight Directors

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

Should Theatre Disappear Like Soap Bubbles?, Erin Lee

Proceedings from the Document Academy

I recently read an excerpt from a 2004 interview with Peter Hall where he claims that he was happy for his materials to disappear "like soap bubbles" (Reason, 2006). One of the fundamentally difficult things about archiving theatre, aside from its ephemeral nature, is the approach that creatives take to their work. Not only do we need to battle the format of live performance but we also need to convince many creatives, not all I must add, that their work can and should remain in the Archive for use in the future. There are glimmers of potential in the area …

Performing The Quality Of Imperceptible Interactions Between Individuals: A Technological Challenge Regarding The Collective, Marine Theunissen

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Contemporary technologies allow incredible possibilities of capturing individuals, but a problem arises when it comes to capturing a chorus, that is to say a "collective body" in motion. This proposal will address the problem of the sensitive capture of the quality of the interrelations between individuals, and of their refined interpretation through algorithms to "output” them in other forms. We will address two questions on the subject: how to capture the relations between individuals within a collective? How to create a circular-causal loop, whose artistic material (the digital data) is the interrelations of a collective, without engendering redundancy in their …

Murmur/Murmuro, Paola M. Di Tolla

Theses and Dissertations

By using repetition or misplacing intonations and accents, etc. one can imitate the slipperiness of spoken language. However, it is the accidental slippage that I find most revealing and exciting because it allows for two conversations to exist in one. Once spoken language is transcribed as text, it is put through another filter and the risk of [accidental] slippage increases by a different measure. Fingers don’t keep up or autocorrect insists on taking matters into its own hands.

Uri Theatre Presents: Rob Neill And The Neo-Futurists, Caitlyn Sloan

Senior Honors Projects

The University of Rhode Island has given me the opportunity to explore and recognize many different interests that I never knew I previously had. While at the university I discovered my love for Theatre and the talent I have as a manager, as well as a love for event planning through my employment with University Events. These passions drove my desire to create an Honors Project that would help me learn more about management and planning on a scale that could have a large impact. When the theatre department won the Distinguished Visiting Artist Grant for 2017, I seized the …

Storytelling Through Movement: An Analysis Of The Connections Between Dance & Literature, Zoe Hester

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Movement and storytelling are the links between past and present; both dance and literature have the same artistic and primal origins. We began to dance to express and communicate, to worship and feel. We tell stories for the same reasons: to learn from the past and to be able to communicate in the present.

This work explores the many connections between literature and dance through examinations of six dance forms: Native American, Bharatanatyam, West African, Ballet, Modern, and Post-Modern dance.

A Director's Approach To Annie Baker's The Aliens, Evin Mcquistion

Undergraduate Honors Theses

A summary of the experience of directing The Aliens by Annie Baker including the process of research on the play and playwright, casting the production, rehearsing the play, and performing it.

The Work Of Living Art, Empathy, And The Creation Of An Aesthetics Of Perception In The Early Twentieth Century, Sarah Peil Winstead

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Adolphe Appia (1862-1928), theorist and pioneering voice of the New Stagecraft Movement in twentieth century theatre, was a transformative influence on the history of scenic design. This paper looks at the links between Appia’s theories in theatre scenic design and contemporaneous German aesthetic theory. At the time German theorists like Adolf Hildebrand and August Schmarsow developed an aesthetic theory, Einfülung or empathy theory, based on the connection between the human body and perception. I will argue this theory influenced not only Appia and his contemporaries it also shaped the landscape of mid-century theatre design. Appia’s own theories revolved around three …

Costume Design For Adam Rapp’S The Metal Children At The University Of Arkansas, Melissa Janet Hall

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis explains the process utilized to create and implement the costume design for the production of The Metal Children produced at the University of Arkansas University Theatre in the Fall of 2016. Throughout this thesis I will illustrate how the costumes went from initial research ideas to sketches and colored renderings and finally to finished three-dimensional costumes. The design process detailed here includes an analysis of the play, inspiration collage, portrait gallery, research, renderings, production images and an evaluation of the overall process.

A Director's Approach To Annie Baker's The Aliens, Evin Mcquistion

Undergraduate Honors Theses

An exploration of Annie Baker's play The Aliens through the perspective of student directing. This includes the process of research, casting, rehearsal, and performance of the play in the Spring of 2017 at East Tennessee State University.

Gestures Of Creative Recovery For The Egocentric Actor Through Performance In Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good., Ross Joel Shenker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This document serves as a travelogue for the creation of two roles for the U of L Fall 2017 Production of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good. At odds throughout the process were intellect and vulnerability. In an attempt to find openness with my primary scene partner, I tried a variety of techniques including, but not limited to: Konstantin Stanislavski’s “Bits and Tasks”; Michael Chekhov’s “Psychological Gesture”; Carl Jung’s theories on Archetype; F.M. Alexander’s notions of “Inhibition” and “Nondoing” as expounded upon by Betsy Polatin; and Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages.” My original goal of achieving vulnerability on stage became consumed …

Being In Performance: A Philosophical Account Of The Embodied Actor, Brad M. Krumholz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation I present and analyze three distinct actor-training exercises primarily through the lens of the Embodied Cognition (EC) branch of contemporary philosophy, which attempts to frame human understanding as a fully embodied interaction with the environment. Drawing from neuroscience, psychology, linguistics, and other branches of philosophy, EC provides both an excellent set of tools and a strong theoretical framework to help explain how people encounter meaning in life. I apply its unique perspectives to this philosophical account of the embodied actor as I analyze the various elements at play in actor training praxis, which allows me to shed …

The Resistable Rise Of Arturo Ui

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.

The Fight Master, Spring 2018, Vol. 40 Issue 1, The Society Of American Fight Directors

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

Tya Adaptations For The Theatre Educator, Laura Ashley Butler

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last century, adaptations in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) have been the subject of some debate. While adaptations are currently the most produced type of play by children’s theatre companies and professional theatre organizations, original TYA scripts are the ones that receive the majority of the praise and acclaim, In addition, theatre educators throughout the United States struggle to produce quality plays with the limited funds they have been allotted. This paper serves multiple purposes. It aims to give theatre educators the tools they need to overcome the stigmatized opinions of adapted works. Additionally, it …

"Desdemona: A Play About A Handkerchief" And "The Tragedie Of Othello, The Moor Of Venice"

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.

The Direction Of Why Torture Is Wrong, And The People Who Love Them, Donald Hart

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Hart, Donald C., M.F.A. Thesis. The Direction of Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them. Mankato: Minnesota State University, Mankato, 2018.

This is a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre. It is a detailed account of Donald C. Hart's artistic process in directing Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them in the fall of 2017 for Minnesota State University, Mankato's department of Theatre and Dance. The paper chronicles the director's artistic process from pre-production through performance in five chapters: a pre-production analysis, a historical and critical …

Radical Black Drama-As-Theory: The Black Feminist Dramatic On The Protracted Event-Horizon, Jaye Austin Williams

Faculty Journal Articles

In this essay, I elaborate my present project, grounded in what I call drama theory, the critical theoretical dimensions of dramatic writing, and address the deeply troubling intramural tensions across Black Studies, between those who read blackness, and black cultural production, through largely futurist, celebratory lenses; and those who apply a structural analysis to blackness as the site against, upon, and through which the world coheres its soci(et)al apparatuses and machinations. I situate myself within the latter constellation, and sample here two plays by Suzan-Lori Parks to demonstrate how I translate the analyses of antiblack violence by black feminist …

One-Third Of A Nation, The Second Amendment, A Living Newspaper Play, Linda Ann Watt

Theses and Dissertations

One-Third of a Nation, the Second Amendment, a Living Newspaper Play

Thesis By Linda Ann Watt for a MFA Degree in Theatre Pedagogy

Documentary theatre, including living newspapers and verbatim theatre, use socio-political commentary at critical moments in history to disseminate facts and offer ideological critique dramatizing the crisis through the lens of emotion, which can incite societal change. This thesis explores this didactic medium with a written play about the second Amendment and gun violence.

Starting Over On Stage, Keydra Manns

Capstones

RTA is a non profit organization based out of New York that uses the arts as a way to rehabilitate inmates. Research shows that this type of rehabilitation strongly impacts an inmates behavior, self esteem and possibly reduces their likelihood to return to prison. This is one man’s story on how practicing theater during his prison sentence changed his life.

https://medium.com/@keydra.manns/starting-over-on-stage-3614e7bc0dd9

A Production Process For Developing A Web Series, Snaptv, Toebey T. Caldwell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

My project for this Interdisciplinary Master’s Program, studying Film Theories and Media Production methods, details “A Production Process for Creating a Web Series, called SNAPtv”. This media production was designed to demonstrate my experience and knowledge I gained through this degree, by specific areas of developing and producing media, including script writing, filming and editing media content, to construct an original web series from Pre-Production to Post-Production.

SNAPtv is a hybrid, sketch comedy, talk show produced as an online web series that mimics the characteristics of a semi-scripted Reality-Television series and combines the elements of a talk show …

Appropriate

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.

Because We Have To: Flamenco As Survival Strategy Against Detrimental Effects Of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dolores Garcia

Theatre & Dance ETDs

Can daily practice in flamenco training help mediate the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on the brain and body? This thesis focuses on the inner-workings of the brain and how it processes stress and trauma. This is discussed through the idea of the Fear Circuit, which is a habitual response to reminders of the original trauma; the review of a current therapy for PTSD patients-Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR); the theory that throwing (skill in speed and precision –based throwing activities), music, and dance can all work to increase strength in areas of the brain that atrophy …

The Fight Master, Fall 2017, Vol. 39 Issue 2, The Society Of American Fight Directors

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2) understand how values …

Theatre Translation As Historiography: Projections Of Greek Self-Identity Through English Translations During The European Crisis, Maria Mytilinaki

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project focuses on theatre translation from Modern Greek into English through the examination of three plays translated in the early years of the ongoing Greek crisis (2012-2014). Currently Greek culture is received internationally through two important frames of reference: Hellenism, the admiration for the ancient Greek spirit, and the more recent negative associations with modern Greece provoked by the Eurozone crisis. The three translations I examine challenge these dual external projections onto Greek culture by promoting a more nuanced image that recontextualizes the Greek past. In their capacity to travel between cultures, often in bilingual iterations, these theatrical translations …

"Hippie Acid Freak Drag Queens:" Situating The Cockettes Within An Art Historical Context, Scott Dow

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis situates the Cockettes – a performance group rarely referenced in art historical discourse - within Bay Area performance art, second-wave feminist art, and the Gay Liberation Movement. Contextualizing the Cockettes within their contemporary art movements provides a new understanding of the group and emphasizes their significance to art history.

4000 Matches On Fire At Once: Studies In Memory And Performance, Lauren Chapman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

In examining the journey that has brought me to the position I am in as a dramaturg, artist, and person, it would be at best rude and at worst irresponsible not to acknowledge the universe of people, productions, and ideas that have molded me. Just as plays are composites and amalgams of ideas, emotions, styles, and themes, so is an emerging dramaturg. My experience is both entirely my own, and not my own at all. In reflecting this experience for my thesis exhibit, I feel it’s important to isolate those individuals and ideas that have molded me.

By presenting their …

School, Melissa F. Carter

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This project asked the question: What is the role of the undergraduate liberal arts institution in American society, now? I initially searched for answers through secondary research. This did not provide me with a single, concrete answer, but contextualized the topic and showed me that there is a multitude of roles that the university plays in society. I then formed and trained an ensemble and together we explored these roles through group discussion and exhaustive improvisation. Out of the many answers that presented themselves, we focused on the concept that the primary purpose of the university is to create the …

Picnic

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.