Performance Studies Commons^™

Playing House With Coward’S “Hay Fever”, Sarah M. Klocke

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A retired actress and her quirky family trap four guests in elaborately woven games in Noel Coward’s Hay Fever. Within the concept of “playing house,” the glamour of Coward’s work lives on through scenery, costumes, and lighting, while his quirkier side is highlighted in hopes of making his Comedy of Manners accessible to a new audience.

The Official Language Of Academic Debate, Marcus Paroske

National Forensic Journal

Academic debate continues to face the long term issue of how to reconcile competing philosophies of argument pedagogy and competitive practice, especially between adherents technical and civic debate theories. Using the theories of Pierre Bourdieu, this essay offers an analysis of this division, focusing on the role of dominant language formation and the role fluency plays in constituting power dynamic in the activity. The conception of a translation approach to judging is offered as a remedy for the exclusionary effects of technical language use in debate.

Biological Sex As A Predictor Of Competitive Success In Intercollegiate Forensics, Kiranjeet Dhillon, April Larson

National Forensic Journal

This study examines biological sex as a predictor of the level of success in intercollegiate policy debate, impromptu speaking, and extemporaneous speaking. Secondary data analysis of tabulation sheets from NDT, AFA-NIET, and NFA, revealed three findings. First, there are more male than female competitors in policy debate and males significantly experienced more out-round success than females. Second, there are more males than females in impromptu speaking; however, there was no significance between biological sex and success in out-rounds. Third, there are more male than female competitors in extemporaneous speaking and males significantly experienced more out-round success than females.

They Know What They're Doing But They Don't Know Why: A Theoretical Exploration Of Intertextuality In Interpretation Events, Megan Orcholski, Dan Cronn-Mills

National Forensic Journal

Our agenda is to offer a conceptual/theoretical understanding of the post-structural approach to literature interpretation/performance. We make a practice of the theory in the construction of the paper—we allow the text to speak for itself. We provide a juxtaposition numerous authors. We focus on the text rather than the author. We offer the following reading instructions: Please read the text as a whole and skimming the referential notations. The citations are provided for readers who wish to further the topic. We realize we depart from the traditional academic writing form. The common occurrence of the style in competition underscores the …

Reframing Competitive Critical Analyses: An Argument For Education-Application Based Methods For Speech Writing In Ca And Rhetorical Criticism, Katherine L. Hatfield-Edstrom

National Forensic Journal

This project offers a contemporary exemplar that students and coaches in competitive speech, specifically in the events of rhetorical criticism or communication analysis can use to help reframe traditional notions or methods of how to write a speech for competition. I contend that the event in competition has become too “cookie-cutter” and devoid of innovation or “thinking outside the box,” which can limit the educational experience for our students. Thus, this project begins as a full critical analysis employing the theoretical framework of public memory and follows with a discussion of how a student in competitive speech could approach the …

After Dinner Speaking: Problems, Causes, And Still No Solutions, Brandi Lawless

National Forensic Journal

Since its adoption as a competitive event, After Dinner Speaking has been critiqued and criticized by several scholars. Despite the quantity of literature produced on this topic, changes to the event have been minimal. This author chooses to look at four areas of controversy including: defining the event, differentiating After Dinner Speaking from Speech to Entertain, differentiating After Dinner Speaking from other platform events, and developing a judging standard for this event. With the use of humor, this paper not only examines these problems, but also the need for discussion surrounding the pedagogical goals of After Dinner Speaking as a …

The Fight Master, Fall 2011, Vol. 33 Issue 2, The Society Of American Fight Directors

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Development And Production Of Justin Blasdel's Play Your Last Friend, Inc., Justin Morgan Blasdel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the process of the creation of the new script, Your Last Friend, Inc., a play about two conmen who realize that selling death isn't nearly as easy as selling life to the hopeless. It follows the many evolutions of the script; from the first version developed in the Graduate Playwriting class all the way to the final production at Boar's Head Players 2010 New Play Showcase at Nadine Baum Studios at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The playwright's choice to add humor to a serious topic is challenged, the characters actions face outside opinions, and …

An Exploration Of The Collegiate Experiences Of Theatre Students In A Regional University, Robyn N. Pursley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for conducting the study was to describe the collegiate experience of performing arts students studying theatre in a comprehensive university setting through a qualitative examination of the perceptions that theatre students hold regarding their interactions with faculty, students, administrators, and the college campus. The study was guided by an ethnographic design identifying the sample of theatre students as a culture sharing group engaged in the formal study of theatre in a university setting. The significance of the study rested in its identification of theatre students as a student subpopulation in need of further study aimed at providing a …

Paralinguistic And Kinesic Codes Of Performance: An Intercultural Gilgamesh, Patrick Michael Finelli

Theatre and Dance Faculty Publications

This paper examines the directing, acting and rehearsal process in transforming the ancient Babylonian epic Gilgamesh for the stage using performers’ journals as a means of determining the effect of corporeal non-western styles on actors whose prior experience was almost exclusively in naturalistic and text-based theatre. The introduction of theatrical elements from multiple cultures including puppetry and the masks and techniques of Noh drama created a multi-tiered field for intercultural exchange. While Patrice Pavis’s hourglass model for the transfer of theatrical material from a source to a target culture may hold true for productions that use linear modes of transmission, …

When You Got It, Bump It: A Lost Showgirl’S Cabaret, Mary Claire King

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

For my Capstone project, I developed an original cabaret entitled “When You Got It, Bump It: A Lost Showgirl’s Cabaret.” The story follows Mazeppa, the lost showgirl, as she travels the vaudeville “circuit” in an attempt to regain her fame. I portray this leading character, while two other women portray her friends and co-stars. All three characters are based on perhaps some of the most famous showgirls on Broadway, Mazeppa, Tessie Tura and Electra of the 1959 musical, Gypsy.

I performed the cabaret twice, on the evenings of April 2^nd and 3^rd, at the First Unitarian …

Directing An Opera In An Undergraduate Setting: Creating A Professional Atmosphere Within The Confines Of A Student Production, Gabrielle Traub

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

As a Voice/Opera Performance major, I decided to take my love of opera and performance and familiarize myself with all of the aspects I had yet to understand: Production and Direction. Along with the creative and technical aspects, I also learned how to deal with many different emotional situations, including but not limited to being in a leadership position above my friends and peers.

My concept is as follows: produce and direct a full-length opera production in a foreign language. I decided to direct The Magic Flute in its original language because a) that was the composer’s original intent, and …

The Misanthrope: Accepting The Notions Of Moliere Into A Modern Society, Cristina A. Skinner

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

“The Misanthrope: Accepting the Notions of Molière for a Modern Society” demonstrates the conceptualization, rehearsal process, and critique of the direction for The Misanthrope, produced during the fall semester of 2010 for the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.  The conceptualization process included historical research of France during the 1660s and 2000s, meetings with the designers, and analysis of the play through structure and characters.  The process included design meetings and rehearsals.  The effectiveness of the production was demonstrated through the responses of four reviewers and a Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival respondent.  Additional material …

Healthy Performance Practice For Male Barbershop Singers, Jacob K. Bartlett

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

Barbershop singing is a hobby enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of men and women across the world. We attend conventions, shows, competitions, and educational outreach programs each year at our own expense to preserve a style we truly love.

Most singers of the style are amateur musicians. This constitutes somewhat of a challenge when we consider the need for healthy singing in light of certain assumptions about the vocal technique required of the barbershop style. Most do their best to make a healthy sound but end up doing more harm than good to their own voices after a lengthy rehearsal. …

Los Exilios De Els Joglars, Sharon G. Feldman

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Quizàs no hay ninguna otra compañía teatral en el Estado español que se haya inspirado tanto en las encrucijadas ambivalentes del mundo del espectáculo con la vida real -especialmente, la vida política catalana- como Els Joglars. A lo largo de SU trayectoria de más de cincuenta años, Albert Boadella y su compañía no han dado nunca la espalda a la política; al contrario, han ido modificando sus valores estéticos de manera gradual, ajustando su punto de ataque según las cuestiones políticas mas apasionantes y ardientes de cualquier momento dado. Els Joglars siempre han dejado que lo político despierte e invada …

Artmaking On The Edge Of A Cliff: Directing Iphigenia 2.0, Shannon E. Cameron

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis contains written documentation regarding the process of directing a theatrical production in fulfillment of the partial requirements for Master of Fine Arts in Directing for Stage and Screen at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

Topics addressed include play selection, script analysis, director/designer collaboration, coaching and actors and evaluation of final product.

Advisor:  Virginia Smith

Ontological Movement In Theater: An Account Of The Preparation And Direction Of The Play Dylan By Sidney Michaels, Aaron Sawyer

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This document contains a graduate thesis and follows the creative process behind Aaron Sawyer’s direction of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 2011 theatrical production of the play Dylan by Sidney Michaels. It contains seven sections depicting thesis production from the selection of the material to its completion and final reviews. The introduction establishes the perspectives and experiences that led me to this thesis. The pre-production section is comprised of an analysis of the script as well as research on the time-periods material to the play and its production. The director’s concept portion analyzes the dramatic structures contained within the play, and …

Experiencing Samoa Through Stories: Myths And Legends Of A People And Place, Samantha Lichtenberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research will explore oral tradition, indigenous beliefs prior to Christianity, and the significance of place through the study of Samoan myths and legends. The researcher will investigate the tradition of storytelling by hearing the stories from Samoan elders themselves. These stories will be supplemented with details from secondary written resources in order to compile comprehensive versions of the myths and legends. The research will consider the affect that Christianity has on the meaning of the stories and examine whether traces of indigenous belief/religion are preserved today through storytelling and the remembrance of myths. The researcher will spend a significant …

The Fight Master, Spring 2011, Vol. 33 Issue 1, The Society Of American Fight Directors

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Angel And The Imp: The Duncan Sisters’ Performances Of Race And Gender, Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

From 1923 to 1959 Vivian and Rosetta Duncan performed the show Topsy and Eva in front of thousands of audiences in the United States and abroad. This essay examines how the Duncan Sisters’ appropriation of blackness through a yin and yang performance of black and white womanhood, their sexualized but ultimately infantilizing routine as young girls, and their take on anarchistic comedy resulted in a particular spin on age, gender, race, and sexuality that reinforced their privilege as white women even while it pushed the boundaries of acceptable femininity in the swiftly shifting American culture of the first half of …

Women & Language: Essays On Gendered Communication Across Media, Melissa R. Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

The present volume of essays examines women's communication as it has evolved historically across multiple mediums. Part I explores how women became "gossip girls" and the important role of gossip in the perception and practice of female communication. Essays in Part II cover the convergence of oral and written communication in women's literature. Gendered performance in such arenas as salsa dance, Dr. Phil and the Internet is examined in Part III, and essays in Part IV discuss women's communication in the technology-rich 21st century. This excerpt features the introduction and one essay from the co-editor.

Women & Language: Essays On Gendered Communication Across Media, Melissa R. Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

The present volume of essays examines women's communication as it has evolved historically across multiple mediums. Part I explores how women became "gossip girls" and the important role of gossip in the perception and practice of female communication. Essays in Part II cover the convergence of oral and written communication in women's literature. Gendered performance in such arenas as salsa dance, Dr. Phil and the Internet is examined in Part III, and essays in Part IV discuss women's communication in the technology-rich 21st century. This excerpt features the introduction and one essay from the co-editor.

Acting Virtuous: Chastity, Theatricality, And The Tragedie Of Mariam, Kent Lehnhof

English Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Given the interrelation of female chastity and female theatricality in early modem discourses, it comes as no surprise that both figure importantly in what is believed to be the first original English drama to be written by a woman. As Elizabeth Cary explores a Jewish queen 's sexual purity in The Tragedie of Mariam, she does so by concentrating on questions of performance. Cary's title character explicitly abjures theatricality even as she embraces chastity, creating a fissure in Renaissance discourses on women that threatens to swallow up the antifeminist idea that female chastity is always an act.

A Midsummer Night’S Dream (With Flying Robots), Robin Murphy, Dylan Shell, Amy Guerin, Brittany Duncan, Benjamin Fine, Kevin Pratt, Takis Zourntos

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Seven flying robot “fairies” joined human actors in the Texas A&M production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The production was a collaboration between the departments of Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Theater Arts. The collaboration was motivated by two assertions. First, that the performing arts have principles for creating believable agents that will transfer to robots. Second, the theater is a natural testbed for evaluating the response of untrained human groups (both actors and the audience) to robots interacting with humans in shared spaces, i.e., were believable agents created? The production used two types …

Direction Of The Play: The Awesome 80'S Prom, Shannon Lynna Horn

Graduate Student Projects

This project entailed the selection, background research and documentation, improvisation training, casting, direction, vocal coaching, and post-production analysis of Pinewood Preparatory School's production of The Awesome 80 's Prom. Documentation includes research and analysis of the play, its music, and an evaluation of the musical as a production vehicle for the department of Theatre Arts at Central Washington University. The analysis also includes a discussion as to the non-traditional directorial vision of this production.

Harriet Jacobs Kansas City Repertory Theatre (Review), Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

This is a review of the play based on Harriet Jacobs, a slave in nineteenth-century America, who documented her life and the ordeal of her escape in her memoir Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Compulsory Homosexuality And Black Masculine Performance, Vershawn A. Young

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Circus: An Integrated Curriculum Unit, Institute For The Development Of Gifted Education, Ricks Center For Gifted Children, University Of Denver

Ricks Curriculum Units Series

An integrated curriculum is an instructional approach that connects the disciplines to an underlying theme or topic. Immersing students in an integrated-thematic unit provides the backdrop for experiences to occur across the disciplines. Shaping coursework around integrated themes is especially appropriate for gifted students, however using an integrated-thematic curriculum is appropriate for all learners as it develops students' abilities to make connections, to solve problems by looking at multiple perspectives, and to integrate information from different fields of experience. An integrated-thematic curriculum permits students to be active participants in their own learning as they design their own explorations and take …

The Synergy Of Visual Projections And Contemporary Dance, Hannah Molly Timbrell

Theses : Honours

Projections are becoming an increasingly common part of contemporary dance performance, however, I believe that choreographers do not always integrate the media to form a dependent synergy. My research addresses the principal question: What are the factors that indicate that there is a critical relationship (synergy) between projection, including art work, moving images or light and the dancer in a contemporary dance performance? A brief history explains the background and development of lighting technology, through to film and more recently motion capture technology. Through sources of pre-existing literature and my interpretation of video excerpts of contemporary dance, I explore various …

Power To The Panza!: Feminist Body Politics In The Panza Monologues (Video Performance Review), Patricia Herrera

Theatre and Dance Faculty Publications

Grise relates to the audience with another dose of humor when she attempts to suck in her panza to fit into a pair of jeans. Alas, after all the jumping and tugging to fit into the jeans, Grise faces her biggest challenge: the roll of flesh bulging out from the zipper. Here, handy dandy pliers are brought to the rescue. She uses them to pull up the zipper and then victoriously stuffs the panza into her pants. This triumphant moment reveals women’s obsession with controlling and literally constraining the body so as to succumb to the hourglass figure young women …