Performance Studies Commons^™

"Trying To Resurrect People": Musical Theater And Theater For Social Change In Witness Uganda, Emilie Jensen

Honors Theses

In spring 2014, the musical Witness Uganda premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA. Written by Griffin Matthews and Matt Gould, the show takes on the problematic idea of aid work in the United States and worldwide. In this thesis, I look at Witness Uganda in relationship to theater for social change. Theater for social change is theater that actively works for social justice. In studying Witness Uganda, I investigate the possibilities and challenges of creating a piece of commercial musical theater that could be considered theater for social change.

Rediscovering Vaudeville: Influences On Film And Theatre, Audra Leigh Edwards

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The greatest thing that vaudeville contributed to the legitimate theatre and to films was talented artists. Many performers who became well known on the stage and screen began in vaudeville. It even occurred that performers with hardly any training at all had an opportunity to perform on vaudeville, and after some time became some of the best performers America has seen. Vaudeville is significant not only because it was an important part of American history in general, but also because it created and trained many artists for successful careers, particularly in film and radio. Without it, many famous and influential …

Ua68/17/3 Potter College Of Arts & Letters Theatre & Dance Film/Video/Audio File, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Recordings of Theatre & Dance performances.

Ua1c11/66 Western Players / Summer Players Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs of Western Players and Summer Players productions, participants, and other activities.

Ua68/17/2 Potter College Of Arts & Letters Theatre & Dance Western Players / Summer Players, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Western Players theater group including the Summer Players.

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.

One Script, Two Perspectives: Generation Me And The Staging Of Really Really, Kirstin R. Hensley

Theses and Dissertations

Really, Really, by Paul Downs Colaizzo, is loosely based on the 2006 Duke University sexual assault scandal resulting from what proved to be a false accusation of rape made against three members of the men’s lacrosse team. After individually reading the play, Jorge Burmudez and I both arrived at differing opinions of who was the true victim, in turn inspiring this thesis, which is an exploration of two separate productions of the play demonstrating contrasting perspectives/outlooks regarding sex crimes within sports organizations in the university setting. It will describe our process from conceptualization to a post-mortem talking about particular …

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 …

Testimony Coming To Life: Revealing The Lord Through Dance, Rachil L. Reynolds

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This honors project is a choreographic work based on a testimony of a woman named Ashley Abercrombie who went from a journey of excellence, to drug abuse, to salvation. The objective of this project was to create an artistic social action piece based on faith. The final work of choreography was movement that was directly related to the story line of Ashley Abercrombie’s testimony, at seventeen minutes in length, and includes a cast of eleven. The final work was publicly presented at the Paul A. Daum Theater, Kolbe Hall, The University of Akron on April 24-25, 2015 as part of …

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Creating The Foundation For Collaboration Amongst The Arts Disciplines, Powered By Tectonic Theatre Project’S Moment Work, Tara B. Weintraub

Theses and Dissertations

During this course, upper-level VCUArts students are invited to join forces to become a part of a cross-disciplinary, ensemble-based exploration. Powered by Tectonic Theatre Project’s Moment Work, students will create new works and gain insight into the philosophies, purposes, and processes of Moment Work and other devised theatre techniques. The class will culminate in short, devised pieces, created and performed by the students. The focus of the class is on the creation of a harmonious ensemble amongst a varied group of young artists. I believe that in order to create a generation of innovative and forward-thinking artists, the segregation of …

The Orphanage Of Things: A Narrative Of Abandonment, Malaz Elgemiabby

Theses and Dissertations

In Sudan, 110 babies are abandoned in the streets of Khartoum every month. The majority of abandoned children are born out of wedlock. Young women with illegitimate pregnancies are often ostracized by their families and society, and the lack of emotional, financial and legal support has led many to take desperate measures, including the abandonment of their children. Relinquishing mothers exist like ghosts in Sudanese society. The only evidence of the mother’s experience is her anonymous, abandoned child. In order to understand and examine this phenomenon, I used ethnographic performance art informed by design research practice (Performative Research Design). I …

My Heart Is In The East: Exploring Theater As A Vehicle For Change, Inspired By The Poetic Performances Of Ancient Andalucía, Jessica Litwak

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study addresses the research question “How Do I Inspire Personal and Social Change Through My Theater Practice?” I implement the theory and practice of H.E.A.T., a fusion theater system, combining use of theater arts as healing practice, educational asset, activist tool, and an art form.I research different ways that theater can affect change, focusing specifically on the use of history in performance.I dramatically interpret a period of history where performance and poetry contributed to change.I utilize qualitative methods including performance ethnography, auto ethnography, arts-based research, and historical research.I describe the fieldwork in conflict zones in the Middle East, which …

A 'Paradox Of Expression': Bertolt Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt In Performance, Cohen L. Ambrose Mr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Robot Saints, Christopher B. Swift

Publications and Research

In the Middle Ages, articulating religious figures like wooden Deposition crucifixes and ambulatory saints were tools for devotion, techno-mythological objects that distilled the wonders of engineering and holiness. Robots are gestures toward immortality, created in the face of the undeniable fact and experience of the ongoing decay of our fleshy bodies. Both like and unlike human beings, robots and androids occupy a nebulous perceptual realm between life and death, animation and inanimation. Masahiro Mori called this in-between space the “uncanny valley.” In this essay I argue that unlike a modern person apprehending an android (the uncanny human-like object that resides …

Through The Eyes Of The Homeless, Aisha M. Soto

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

When reviewing the entire project from start to completion, I can honestly say, Through the Eyes of the Homeless is a play about ten women and their plight. It illustrates their dealings with everyday issues of hurt, disappointment, abuse, love, and hope. I believe the true impact of this play is the undeniable prayer for help and hope within each monologue. Despite the horrors that are unveiled and released through hidden secrets, the undertone of betterment is truly resonating. My own expectation for this play is simply to strike awareness and understanding in the eyes of the people. It is …

“The Modern Performance Art Vs. Traditional Theatre: The Division Between The Contemporary And The Conventional”, Sally Woo

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Performance art and theatre are both rooted in the same practices and ideas. Performance art is an art form that utilizes the human body as a tool for creating art. It has no boundaries and past performance pieces have proven that the options are limitless. The human body acts as a type of canvas in which the artist manipulates however they wish, whether it is on the body itself or the movement or placement. Theatre does the same thing, using people to tell stories that illuminate real life situations in a scripted and rehearsed manner. However, while theatre has become …

The Psychology Of Performance: A Growing Art, Shaina Hammer

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Somehow, though Chapman University is relatively small, there is a great deal of distance between each of its academic fields; the actors don't know what the music building looks like, the musicians have no idea what the dramatists are up to, and no one has any idea where the dance classes are held. But not only do the students of Chapman University's College of Performing Arts not know one another, they don't understand one another. More than once I have encountered a student with the same self-confidence issue as another. Without a doubt, performance majors have a lot to talk …

What’S Cookin’ Good Lookin’: The Rise And Phenomena Of The Female Foodie Performer Through Social Media, Alison Weiss

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Once seen in black and white terms as human sustenance or luxury, eating has become not only a hobby, but an obsession. Whereas chefs and cooks were previously regarded as average, behind-the-scenes workers, they have now stepped out from the kitchen and into the spotlight, becoming celebrated public idols – and performers. With images tailored to different demographics right down to their clothing and hairstyles, chefs and cooks no longer merely prepare food: they put on a show. The foodie phenomena has been pioneered by females, largely in part to the parallel-running infatuation with health, fitness, and food trends that …

Kinetic Sculpture In Theatre And Live Entertainment, Francesca Muscolo

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Technology dominates contemporary “theatre,” but the theatre is often the last industry to see innovations. Instead, the technical field operates on leftovers from entertainment, visual art, or industrial settings. The technological differences between these areas begin to blur; the differences lay only in their execution and intention. Some companies such as Cirque du Soliel, Diavolo, and Chunky Move blend technology and performance until the two become indivisible. This technology is being developed in an effort to lessen boundaries and create new opportunities that could not otherwise happen onstage.

Through this thesis I will develop a basic understanding of the machinery …

Entering A Musical Haze: How Music Festivals Have Created Their Own Culture, Kaitlyn Weaver

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Lady Gaga: Performer, Persona, And Political Advocate, Cassidy Burns

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Male Ballet Dancers And Their Performances Of Heteromasculinity, Trenton M. Haltom, Meredith G. F. Worthen

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although previous research has investigated men in feminized sports, we took a different approach in this study and examined men in ballet. Because ballet is one of the most highly gender-codified sports, male ballet dancers must negotiate their identities as men while performing a dance form that is highly stigmatized as effeminate. We investigated how five self-identified heterosexual male college dance majors perceive and perform heteromasculinity within male ballet culture using qualitative data gathered from structured interviews. Results provide three unique contributions to the literature. First, we found that these men develop and contextualize their heteromasculinity in the context of …

The Fight Master, Fall 2014, Vol. 36 Issue 2, The Society Of American Fight Directors

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Complicated ‘Colours’ Of Rhythm: A Study Of Capetonian’S Battle For Identity Through The Hip Hop Movement In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Joseph Thomas Dover

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project delves into the Cape Town Hip Hop scene in an attempt to uncover how it is an inclusive and empowering space that allows individuals to deconstruct and reconstruct individual and group identities in order to subvert colonial narratives. In order to uncover the power of Hip Hop this project uses 3 interviews with individuals intimately connected to the Hip Hop scene and reviews an abundance of literature surrounding the topic. The history of ‘coloured’ as a racial classification is analysed alongside with other research and is placed within the context of contemporary Capetonian Hip Hop in order to …

Guddling About: Experiments In Vital Materialism With Particular Regard To Water, Minty Donald

The Goose

With reference to Jane Bennett’s notion of "vital materialism," this photo essay documents and reflects on Guddling About: a series of experiments or actions carried out by artists Nick Millar and Minty Donald with the Bow River and its watershed in Calgary and Southern Alberta in August-September 2013. Each experiment is described as a set of instructions — a script or score for an event — which can be enacted in any location where human settlement has evolved around a river. The experiments will be repeated, and new ones developed, with the River Clyde in Glasgow and Southern Scotland in …

An Actor's Statement Of Artistry, Debbie Merary Banos

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of my statement of artistry, and documentation of my thesis performance.

Site Specific Theatre, David Wohl

College of Visual and Performing Arts Faculty Publications

An examination of site specific theatre performance theory and practice.

Humble Me: Increasing Awareness Of Ethnocentrism And Of The Need For Ethnorelativism Through A Spoken Word Performance Event, Corinne H. Sherman

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Collapsing The Secret Self: Thackeray's The History Of Pendennis As A Performative Parody, Rachel Freire

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

By collapsing the distinctions between private and public as he presents individual interiority as yet another performance, Thackeray’s The History of Pendennis undercuts disciplinary individualism, so that performances are not the product of social regulation but rather are as genuine as any presumed private thoughts or feelings. Pendennis actively performs the dissolution of interiority, as it thematically and stylistically enacts the awkwardness of genuine affectation as a routine and unavoidable reality of modern life. Reveling in the discomfort that accompanies the absence of secrecy, Thackeray parodies the privileging of secrecy and one’s interior self that pervades the Bildung genre he …