Playwriting Commons^™

Palestine Without Borders: A Study Of Arab And Western Voices In Theater, Bassem Mohsen Ahmed El-Sayed Ahmed Ibrahim

Theses and Dissertations

Theater has always been perceived as a way to link different cultures together and bring them under one large domain. Regardless, the genre does not give the needed attention to works written in certain regions that may otherwise fall outside the consensus. One good example is Palestine and any works that deal with it as a setting. The first thing that comes to mind whenever the word “Palestine” is brought up is almost always of a political nature, having to do with the Palestinians’ national conflict with Israel. This thesis undertakes to amend this by probing into plays written by …

Smokebox: Writing Into Embarrassment, Julia Storch

Theatre & Dance ETDs

Engaging with theoretical concepts and dramaturgical tools, this essay follows my journey through The Dramatic Writing MFA program at the University of New Mexico, focusing on the production of my thesis play, Smokebox. In Part I, I give the background and development of my journey as a playwright, exploring the obstacles I faced and overcame through my engagement with coursework and staged readings. I map out the development of Smokebox, from its humble beginnings as a class assignment, to its transformation through workshop, and finally its realization through an intense rehearsal and production process. In Part II, I …

Sweat Equity: Lynn Nottage's Radical Dialectic Of Deindustrialization, Jocelyn L. Buckner

Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"Lynn Nottage has devoted her career to researching and telling stories of Black individuals and communities with expressed interest in laborers, advocating for their agency, humanity, and legacy. In her second Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Sweat, Nottage dramatizes more recent US history, illuminating the lives of workers marginalized by the deindustrialization of the Rust Belt in the early 2000s. Sweat is emblematic of Nottage's sustained effort to deploy playwriting as activism and stand in solidarity with those whose stories she chooses to tell. As a constant theme in her works, Lynn Nottage's stories align with marginalized workers' efforts and histories, …

Creating A Play Using Noh And The Stanislavski Method, John Alex Nunnery

Merge

No abstract provided.

Macbeth

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

Performed February 24-26 & March 3-5 2023 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Macbeth is a tragedy that delves into themes of ambition, power, and guilt. The play follows the rise and fall of Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman, who is driven by a prophecy from three witches and the manipulative encouragement of his wife, Lady Macbeth. After murdering King Duncan to seize the throne, Macbeth's reign is marked by paranoia and tyranny, leading to further bloodshed and his eventual downfall. The play explores the psychological effects of ambition and the moral …

White Christmas

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of White Christmas. Book by David Ives & Paul Blake. Music & lyrics by Irving Berlin.

Performed November 11-13, 18, 20 & December 2-4, 2022 at the Mitchell Theatre.

White Christmas is a heartwarming musical based on the 1954 film of the same name, with a book by David Ives and Paul Blake, and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The story follows two World War II veterans, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, who have become successful song-and-dance performers. They team up with a sister act, Betty and Judy Haynes, and travel to Vermont …

A Little Night Music, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2022-2023 Season Productions

Sondheim creates a stunning tour de force when he takes Ingmar Bergman's comedy of manners, Smiles of a Summer Night, and turns it into a musical of masterful execution and elegance. Winner of four Tony Awards, this is a musical work that has forever entranced the world of theatre.

Set in 1900 Sweden, A Little Night Music explores the tangled web of affairs centered around actress, Desirée Armfeldt, and the men who love her: a lawyer by the name of Fredrik Egerman and the Count Carl-Magnus Malcom. When the traveling actress performs in Fredrik's town, the estranged lovers' passion …

The Birds

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of The Birds by Conor McPherson adapted from the short story of Daphne Du Maurier.

Performed September 15-18, 2022 at the Mitchell Theatre.

The Birds is set in an isolated house where two strangers, Nat and Diane, seek refuge from relentless attacks by flocks of birds. As they struggle to survive with limited resources and no electricity, their fragile sanctuary is further disrupted by the arrival of a young woman named Julia. The tension inside the house mirrors the chaos outside, as paranoia and fear take hold. McPherson's adaptation delves into the psychological and …

Annie

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of Annie with book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse and music by Martin Charnin.

Annie is a beloved musical with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan.The musical is set during the Great Depression and follows the story of a young orphan named Annie. Living in a miserable orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan, Annie's life changes when she is chosen to spend Christmas with the wealthy Oliver Warbucks. Despite various challenges and schemes by Miss Hannigan, Annie's optimism and determination lead to a …

How Would Jesus Watch This? An Investigation Into Dance Restrictions In American Protestantism, Rebecca Lynn Huppenthal

Theatre & Dance ETDs

In the United States there has been many disagreements concerning the place of dance within Protestant Christianity. Some denominations have banned dance entirely while other utilize dance as an essential element of worship. At the center of this argument is the understanding, treatment, and use of the physical body. Beginning in the sixteenth century through current times, I analyze specific Protestant denominations including the Puritans, Evangelical Fundamentalists, Southern Baptists, the Shakers, certain African American denominations, and Pentecostals. Additionally, I examine notable liturgical modern dancers, as well as my own choreographic work, a dance film titled Rebirth. This research displays …

Approaching The 'Small Planet': Remain In Light's Starship Road Trip As Metaphor For Theatrical World-Building, Amy Yourd

Theatre & Dance ETDs

Using Elinor Fuchs’ “Visit to a Small Planet” as inspiration, I consider my play Remain in Light as its own small planet, examining theories of world-building, science fiction, and utopian performativity to investigate possible functions of imaginary worlds onstage. In chapter one, I appropriate Fuchs’ script analysis exercise for my own purposes of play development, discovering a world of sensory detail that parallels the characters’ experience in the play. In chapter two, I conceive of the play’s starship as an imaginary world crashing towards this one, its escape a hopeful reflection on the utopian possibilities of alternate worlds. In chapter …

Eccentric: Writing Through The Lens Of Empathy, Steven M. Blacksmith

Theatre & Dance ETDs

In this essay, I detail my growth as a writer through different periods of empathic learning. I examine my childhood struggle to understand many common emotions and the ways in which I began to logically dissect and replicate them in life and in art. I further delve into this examination through my discovery of comedy and the lifelong process of understand the deep connections humans make with humor. I then discuss how my understanding of empathy allowed me to write my dissertation play, The Eccentrics, and create a world in which empathy among the characters can be a catalyst …

The 5th Humor, Stella Maria Perry

Theatre & Dance ETDs

I will be using a self-interview as a method of investigating both the origins of myself, the artist, and the work produced I have produced in and out of the MFA Dramatic Writing program with a special focus on my dissertation play, The Blood Vessel.

The intention is to investigate how my plays have come into existence and how they inform each other. This is done through a series of questions I ask myself under the pseudonym Penelope Hawkins. Penelope guides me through the investigation as a character, thus becoming part of the work of the self-interview and still …

Let The People Speak: How Verbatim Theater Allows Historically Marginalized Groups Tell Their Stories, Kalala C. Kiwanuka-Woernle

Theatre and Dance Honors Projects

motherhood: the good, bad, and ugly was born out of my research of Verbatim Theater, specifically the practices of Anna Deavere Smith, The Tectonic Theater Project, and Eve Ensler; and the lack of fully fleshed out mother characters represented in theatre. In my research, I focused on how these different playwrights crafted their plays, identified the topic or event they wanted to explore, and the selection of their subjects. During the pandemic, I had the idea to create a theater piece that would tell the good, the bad, and the ugly of motherhood because in the media especially in the …

To Kill A Mockingbird

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, dramatized by Christopher Sergel.

Performed February 18-20 & 25-27, 2022 at the Mitchell Theatre.

To Kill A Mockingbird is a dramatization by Christopher Sergel of Harper Lee's classic novel. Set in the racially segregated South during the 1930s, the play follows young Scout Finch and her brother Jem as they witness their father, Atticus Finch, defend Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Through Scout's eyes, the story explores themes of racial injustice, moral integrity, and the loss of innocence. The …

The 2022 Classroom Project: Land Of Ours, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2021-2022 Season Production

LAND OF OURS is a brand-new play devised in rehearsal by an ensemble of Otterbein University actors, designers, stage managers, and directors. The play explores the centrality of travel and journeying to human experience. Drawing on the ensemble's personal experiences, stories of mythical travel from legend and folklore, and travel explorations invented in rehearsal, LAND OF OURS is a theatrical journey that will transport you beyond the theater walls to a destination of the imagination.

Something Rotten!, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2021-2022 Season Production

Something Rotten takes place in 1595 London, England. The Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel are trying to find success by writing plays, but are outshined by the rock-star playwright of the Renaissance, William Shakespeare. Desperate to find success Nick gets help from a soothsayer for the next big hit.

Deconstrucciones Del Hogar Hegemónico: La Familia Disfuncional En El Último Teatro Español, Ruth María Gutiérrez Álvarez

Teatro: Revista de Estudios Escénicos / A Journal of Theater Studies

El teatro español contemporáneo presenta una creciente tendencia a situar la familia en el centro de la materia dramática desde muy diferentes posturas estéticas, desde la autoreferencialidad y la autofictión del yo, procedimientos característicos de los ejercicios performativos, a la precisión de las formas de hiperrealismo. El presente artículo propone un análisis de aquellas piezas teatrales que llevan a cabo un profundo proceso de deconstrucción y desmitificación de la familia nuclear hegemónica por medio del cual, por un lado, se presenta el hogar como una convención social, política, económica e ideológica que oprime al individuo y, por otro, se cuestiona …

The Right To Fail: Defining And Imitating The Style Of The Royal Court Theatre, Annie Sheneman

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

A Virtuous Woman, Who Can Find?, Ashley Banker

Senior Honors Theses

The contemporary theatre world lacks prominent, virtuous female roles, which are needed to inspire both the actors who play them and the audience members who witness them to emulate their virtuous characteristics. Virtuous characters encourage society to strive for excellence, as well as provide excellent role models for the next generation of young women. From a Christian perspective, a virtuous female role strives to exemplify the traits in Proverbs 31: trustworthy, kind, industrious, selfless, strong, honorable, and God-fearing. The critically-acclaimed plays The Humans and Good People feature prominent female characters who do not exhibit these virtues. Although each play contains …

The Women Of Lockerbie

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of The Women of Lockerbie by Deborah Brevoort..

Performed October 29-31 & November 5-7, 2021 at the Mitchell Theatre.

The Women of Lockerbie is a poignant drama inspired by the real-life aftermath of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The play follows a grieving mother from New Jersey who roams the hills of Lockerbie, searching for her son's remains. She encounters the women of Lockerbie, who are fighting the U.S. government to retrieve the clothing of the victims found in the wreckage. These women aim to wash the clothes …

A Lie Of The Mind, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2021-2022 Season Production

Sam Shepherd, a mastermind of dark humor and powerful drama, out does himself with this story of two dysfunctional families joined by marriage in the American West, each trying to hold on to the ideal picture of stability without ever having experienced it. Jake believes he may have killed his wife, Beth, during a domestic dispute and, to calm his concerns, his brother Frankie attempts to get the real story by traveling to Beth’s family home in Montana. While he is relieved to see Beth alive, though severely injured from the incident, Frankie is suddenly entangled in a bizarre familial …

The Conscience Of Little Women: Beth's Epic, Mcewen Baker

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

From its conception, and through countless retellings, there is no doubt that Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is an American classic that has stood the test of time. Kate Hamill’s stage adaptation affirms and extends this legacy; the playwright adopts a contemporary feminist approach that defies gender norms and exclusivity in casting and encourages an actor-centered approach. This essay explains the importance of this adaptation and its influence on my portrayal of Beth March in Belmont University’s Fall 2021 production. It touches on the often overlooked significance of the second youngest sister as well as how my personal battle with …

A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2021-2022 Season Production

Join us as we celebrate a return to live theater with a very special staged concert version of the show that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020. While we are unable to fully realize the elaborate design of this hilarious knock-em-dead musical romp, the script will be performed in full with much of the original cast, and you will not leave without having a hearty laugh. Poor, low-born Monty Navarro is desperate to inherit the dukedom by surpassing no fewer than eight members of the well-to-do D’Ysquith family in line before him. Just wait until …

Borrowed Babies

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of Borrowed Babies by Jennifer Blackmer.

Performed September 10-12, 2021 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Borrowed Babies is a play by Jennifer Blackmer that delves into the historical practice of university "practice houses" for home economics students. The story follows Judy London, a Professor of Home Economics, who encounters one of her former "practice babies" as she nears the end of her career. This meeting prompts Judy to reflect on her life's journey and the sacrifices she has made. The play explores the evolving roles of women and mothers in American society over the past …

Language As The Medium: A Literature Review. Harnessing The Prolific Power Of Dramatic Language As A Therapeutic Tool In Drama Therapy, Edward Freeman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Language in and of the theatre, with its palate of variegated writing styles and playwrights from throughout time, has the potential to be harnessed, focused, and systematized for use as a therapeutic tool within drama therapy – the field’s artistic medium. Drama therapy could benefit from having a specific medium germane to its artform which has the potential to provide practitioners with a common resource and means of communication, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning, as well as align the field with other creative arts therapies. Language encompasses all forms of human communication – speaking, writing, signing, gesturing, expressing facially – …

An Introduction To Theatre Of Omniscience, Kierstan K. Conway

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Theatre is an art of infinite possibility and is created and viewed from a variety of different lenses. Throughout history, artistic movements such as realism, surrealism, naturalism, expressionism, romanticism, and many more have influenced the ideologies of theatrical artists. Theatre practitioners make a stake in their artistic beliefs in the form of manifestos, which encapsulate their understanding in an abstract or concrete way. In reading and studying these manifestos, the individual then has the choice to follow suit to a school of thought, or derive their own philosophy. Theatre, in one viewpoint, can be understood as a means of omniscience, …

The Tempest 2021, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2020-2021 Season

Abducted and set adrift to die by her power-hungry sister and a jealous king, Prospera and her daughter, Miranda have survived 12 long years shipwrecked on a lonely island. When Prospera learns though her magical arts that those whose sought her child’s death are within her reach, she is consumed by rage. Conjuring the greatest of storms to break their ship upon her shores, Prospera brings her enemies to her feet. But when the opportunity to wreak her final vengeance is upon her, Prospera can no longer recognize the thing she has become, and she is forced to choose between …

Into A Lamplit Room, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2020-2021 Season

The life of Composer and Social Activist, Kurt Weill, is celebrated in this cabaret-style compilation of his work. The production includes more than 30 songs, ranging from his life in Berlin during the Weimar Era during which he was a voice against the Nazi regime, to his emigration to the U.S. where he was a supporter of the American war effort in the 1930’s, and finally his contributions to the American Musical Theatre canon. Audiences will particularly recognize his collaborations with Ira Gershwin, Bertolt Brecht, and Maxwell Anderson in the songs written for Broadway including Tschaikowsky, Mack the Knife, Pirate …

Introducing Genzai Nō: Categorization And Conventions, With A Focus On Ataka And Mochizuki, Diego Pellecchia

Mime Journal

No abstract provided.