Playwriting Commons^™

Giau Minh Truong Interview, Gin To

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Giau Minh Truong is a company member of A-Squared Theatre Workshop and an at- large artist for various performing arts companies in the Chicago area. For A-Squared, he directed Ching Chong Chinaman, The Other Shore, and short plays for My Asian Mom, acted in Trial By Water, and designed lights for The Wind Cries Mary. Giau’s other directorial credits include Downward Facing, Lights Out, Everybody, and Theatre of Women for Dream Theatre Company. He directed Sister Outlaw, Mr. and Mrs. LaQuesta Go Dancing, My Name is Flor Contemplacion, and I Dream Electric for CIRCA-Pintig, Chicago’s …

Did Hollywood Take Theatre "By Hook Or By Crook?", Catherine S. Wright

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Hollywood and Theatre have been partners in producing entertainment for over 100 years. The relationship was fruitful for both parties, but Hollywood moguls and playwrights battled over ownership of the work and crafting of its creative nucleus, story and character. Theatre was the dominant entertainment right before the rise of motion pictures. Once Hollywood’s talkies closed the curtain on silent films, playwrights had a high creative worth to movie makers. In the cinema, story and dialogue were essential for its survival and growth. Playwrights were courted by the Hollywood studio heads but were not offered equal partnership as they were …

Into The Woods

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of Into the Woods. Book by James Lapine. Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Performed November 9-11 & 16-18, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. It intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The story follows a Baker and his Wife, who wish to have a child; Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King's festival; and Jack, who wishes his cow would give milk. Their …

The Amish Project

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of The Amish Project by Jessica Dickey.

Performed September 13-16, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre. This was the 2018 Jason Francis Memorial Scholarship Show.

The Amish Project is a powerful and thought-provoking play by Jessica Dickey that explores the fictionalized aftermath of the real-life 2006 West Nickel Mines Amish School shooting. The play delves into themes of forgiveness, compassion, and community resilience in the face of tragedy. It portrays the complex emotional journey of the Amish community as they navigate their grief and the necessity of forgiveness to heal and survive.

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 …

#Parlezvousfemme - A One-Woman Show, Victoria G. Lindbergh

Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research

#parlezvousfemme is a one-woman show set in 2018 that reimagines the lives of several infamous French women. Each character approaches modern life differently based on her given circumstances and reveals several universal truths about being a woman in today’s society. The famous military leader Joan of Arc is a 19-year-old youtuber criticizing the far-right for using her as their symbol, while revolutionary Olympe de Gouges is a modern-day women’s rights activist. Marie Antoinette is a housewife being interviewed by Vogue and scientist Marie Curie hosts a PBS telethon and addresses the lack of women in science. Designer Coco Chanel is …

Bringing Life To Theatre: A Scenic Designer's Role In Creating "The Wild Party", Matthew Carlin

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this paper is to examine the research that goes into designing the scenic elements of a musical. I was the scenic designer for Pace School of Performing Arts’ production of Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe’s The Wild Party in the fall of 2017. Directed by Roger Ellis, our version of the vaudeville-style musical was done in an immersive, in-the-round style. As the scenic designer for this production I was strongly focused on the research aspect of the design process. We consulted several art movements and architectural styles, as well as mythology, film and literature in …

Mia Park Interview, Justin Fernandez

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Mia Park is a multidisciplinary artist acting, writing, playing music, producing events, teaching yoga, and volunteering in Chicago, IL. She shares her passion for discovery and self-inquiry with hope and optimism. Mia began professionally acting in 1997 hosting the cult favorite cable access dance show Chic-A-Go-Go. Her acting career has brought her on stage, in film, on television and on the radio. Mia currently plays the recurring character Nurse Beth Cole on NBC's Chicago Med. She has advocated for Asian American representation in acting since 2006 when she co-founded A-Squared Theatre and hosted educational theater workshops for the Chicago …

Disney And Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins: The Broadway Musical

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Marry Poppins: The Broadway Musical.

Performed April 27-29 and May 4-6, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family members how to value each other again. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren't the only ones upon whom she has a profound effect. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the …

Thoroughly Modern Millie, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2017-2018 Season

The year was 1922 and to live in Manhattan meant, for many, an era of wild optimism, carefree abandonment of antiquated social constraints and for women, unprecedented advancement in how they were perceived by those around them. Everything was lovely and in this age of liberated sensibilities, our heroine, Millie Dillmount enters with just such a need to rewrite her personal narrative. Thoroughly Modern Millie is, to me, a valentine to optimism and a love letter to love itself.

Thom C. Warren, Director

Why We Must Die So Young: The Story Of The White Rose Martyrs

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Why We Must Die So Young: The Story of the White Rose Martyrs by William Gebby.

Performed February 23-25, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.

During the darkest days of WWII, a handful of German college students distributed thousands of anti-Nazi leaflets and worked toward unifying resistance across Germany. They called themselves the White Rose, and their faith drew them to engage in a fight that would cost them their lives. William Gebby’s brand new play celebrates the lives of these brave young people who would not and will not be silent. The TU …

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 …

Cyrano De Bergerac

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Cyrano de Bergerac, based on the translation written by Anthony Burgess of the play written by Edmund Rostand.

Performed November 10-12, 17-19, 2017 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Dashing, proud, and romantic, Cyrano is one of the most memorable figures in theatre history. Known throughout Paris for his unmatched bravery and the charm of his verse, poet Cyrano de Bergerac has one problem—his enormous nose. During an age of gallant musketeers and extravagant lifestyles, this beautiful soul is damned by his marred appearance. Not one to give up, Cyrano joins forces with the handsome …

Moments

Taylor Theatre Playbills

Taylor's first-ever dance production is review of our musical history. It includes numbers from past shows, such as Oklahoma!, current works that have come out of dance classes, and previews of upcoming performances, such as The Pirates of Penzance and Mary Poppins. Don't miss this incredible night of storytelling through dance!

Performed October 6-7, 2017 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Clybourne Park

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris.

Performed September 28-30, October 1, 2017 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play, Clybourne Park is a razor-sharp satire about the politics of race. In 1959, Russ and Bev are moving to the suburbs after the tragic death of their son. Inadvertently, they’ve sold their house to the neighborhood’s first black family. Fifty years later, the roles are reversed when a young white couple buys the lot. In both instances a community showdown takes place, pitting race against …

From Playwriting To Production, Lauren Wade

Senior Honors Projects

Theater has been a beloved art form for centuries, originating in Ancient Greek times and evolving into what we know today. For as long as I can remember I have been involved in theater, performing in my own school plays starting in elementary school and, upon entering high school, assisting the middle school next door in their productions. While I have been studying acting here at the University of Rhode Island, I have also had the opportunity to expand my knowledge in many aspects of stagecraft including stage management, costume and set design, set construction and scenic painting, and more …

The Matchmaker

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder.

Performed April 28-30 and May 5-7, 2017 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Before the world fell in love with "Hello, Dolly!", Thornton Wilder’s uproarious play "The Matchmaker" introduced Ms. Dolly Gallagher Levi: a cunning, crafty, and thoroughly modern woman who knows a good catch when she sees one. When the wealthy Horace Vandergelder hires matchmaker Ms. Levi to find him a wife, Dolly doesn't need to look far to find his perfect mate. While Dolly is “arranging things” for Mr. Vandergelder, the young, hopeless romantics of Yonkers reap the …

Not The Truth We Seek: The Story Of A Mime, Fierce Women, Proposals, & Pro Wrestling, Steven Meeker Jr.

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

THE SPARK

I have always believed that the best theater comes from a very real and sometimes very painful place. My parents were undergoing a brutal and very open separation and then divorce throughout my junior and senior year of high school. In the middle of the constant war zone that was our home, my brother and I would simply go from one room to the other with our heads down and as quick as possible. The only day we would linger in the living room would be Mondays. On Monday nights, my brother and I owned the living room …

When The Rain Stops Falling

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of When the Rain Stops Falling by Thornton Andrew Bovell.

Performed February 24-26, March 3-5, 2017.

It’s 2039. A fish falls from the sky and lands at Gabriel’s feet. Where did it come from? Gabriel’s estranged son decides to visit for dinner. What does he want? To know about his past? Gabriel barely knows his own past. From 1959 to 2039, from London to Australia, When the Rain Stops Falling follows the fragmented history and mystery of Gabriel’s family and the falling fish.

Bonding Theatre And Chemistry: An Educational Exploration, Matthew Gurniak

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper analyzes the educational aspects of theatre and music and the impact that they have on an audience. The goal was to begin a new conversation about science and theatre and how the two can learn and gain unique insight from each other. To examine how these two antithetical fields can interact, I composed a new, innovative musical that tells the love story between two professors through the use of concepts from general chemistry. The results and responses from the performance of the play were overwhelmingly positive from members of both disciplines. They have inspired continued interest in this …

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Oklahoma!. Books and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rogers.

Performed on November 11-13, 18-20, 2016 at the Mitchell Theatre.

The high-spirited rivalry between the farmers and cowmen of the Western Indian Territory provides the colorful, turn-of-the-century backdrop for Curley and Laurey’s love story. But with these headstrong romantics holding the reins, the road to love is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a dusty road. Despite many hardships, their rocky romance leads to a new life beginning in a brand new state. Rodgers & Hammerstein's first collaboration remains, …

Antigone

Taylor Theatre Playbills

Taylor Theatre presents Sophocles’ timeless tragedy “Antigone,” translated and directed by Joe Ricke.

Performed September 29-October 2, 2016 at the Mitchell Theatre.

In this story, the bold yet cursed princess Antigone, daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, chooses to confront her unmovable uncle/king about his decision to dishonor her brother by refusing his burial. Her choice to defy him shocks the entire city of Thebes. Ultimately, all concerned, including the audience, are forced to wrestle with the relationship of divine law to human laws.

This striking production, translated and directed by Joe Ricke, explores this universal question in the ancient context …

The Real F-Word: Feminism An Exploration Of Feminism And The Female Experience On College Campuses, Beatrice R. Owens

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Using third-wave feminism and playwriting as the foundation, this project intends to examine the history of feminism as it influences the current third-wave in the United States of American with a specific focus on the impact it has on college students. This project examines the development of feminism throughout history and asks whether that historical development has contributed significantly to the way in which millennial men and women understand and relate to feminism presently. Through the compilation of research and the creation of a performance piece, performed on April 1, 2016 in the Wayland Performance Studio, this project examines what …

2016 Otterbein Summer Theatre Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Taylor Theatre Playbills

Taylor Theatre presents William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Performed April 29-30 and May 6-7, 2016 at the Mitchell Theatre. Mischief meets merriment in this fresh re-imagining of Shakespeare's most popular romantic comedy.

In just one night, four magical stories are cleverly woven together: the marriage of the Athenian duke to the Amazon queen; the battle of the king and queen of the fairies; the follies of four lovers in a forest; and the hilarious antics of amateur actors staging a play. Enter a vibrant world where fairies fly overhead, a donkey bursts into song, and love potion makes your …

Risd Cabaret 1987-2000 Retrospective Program, Agnieszka Taborska, Bill Newkirk, Risd Archives

RISD Cabaret 1987-2000 Retrospective

No abstract provided.

Risd Cabaret 1987-2000 Retrospective Poster, Agnieszka Taborska, Bill Newkirk, Risd Archives

RISD Cabaret 1987-2000 Retrospective

No abstract provided.

Risd Cabaret 1987-2000 Retrospective Program, Agnieszka Taborska, Bill Newkirk, Risd Archives

RISD Cabaret 1987-2000 Retrospective

No abstract provided.