Theatre History Commons^™

Pantomime: The History And Metamorphosis Of A Theatrical Ideology, Karl E. Toepfer

Open Educational Resources

This book offers perhaps the most comprehensive history of pantomime ever written. No other book so thoroughly examines the varieties of pantomimic performance from the early Roman Empire, when the term “pantomime” came into use, until the present. After thoroughly examining the complexities and startlingly imaginative performance strategies of Roman pantomime, the author identifies the peculiar political circumstances that revived and shaped pantomime in France and Austria in the eighteenth century, leading to the Pierrot obsession in the nineteenth century. Modernist aesthetics awakened a huge, highly diverse fascination with pantomime. The book explores an extraordinary variety of modernist and postmodern …

Dmt And “The Man Box:” Provoking Change And Encouraging Authentic Living, An Arts-Based Project, Steven Reynolds

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the mind-body experience through an arts-based research approach to examine, and redefine the emotional capacity and usefulness of males through societal determinants that limits and hinders men from living their authentic selves. Through the lens of a metaphoric “Man Box” 112 men participated in a workshop recreating their personal narratives of socialization through, style of dress, coping mechanisms, belief systems and who they should be as men through society's standards. In the “Man Box,” male bonding, and emotional feelings are discouraged, while the objectification of women, material property and physical/emotional strength are encouraged. This research investigates the …

Embodied Nostalgia: Early Twentieth Century Social Dance And U.S. Musical Theatre, Phoebe Rumsey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I claim the collective emotional connections and historical explorations characteristic of musical theatre constitute a nostalgic impulse dramaturgically inherent in the form. In my intervention in the link between nostalgia and musical theatre, I look to an area underrepresented in musical theatre scholarship: social dance. Through case studies that focus specifically on how social dance in musical theatre brings forth the dancer on stage as a site of embodied history, cultural memory, and nostalgia, I ask what social dance is doing in musical theatre and how the dancing body functions as a catalyst for nostalgic thinking for …

The Mousetrap

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University's performance of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap.

Performed April 26-28 & May 3-5, 2019 at the Mitchell Theatre.

The Mousetrap is a classic murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. Set in the remote Monkswell Manor, the story begins as a group of strangers is stranded by a snowstorm. The guests include a newlywed couple, a retired army major, an architect, a mysterious foreigner, and a stern magistrate. Tensions rise when they learn that a murderer is among them, and a police sergeant arrives to investigate. As secrets are revealed and suspicions grow, the play builds …

The Fight Master, Spring 2019, Vol. 41 Issue 1, The Society Of American Fight Directors

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

Singin' In The Rain, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2018-2019 Season

Singin’ in the Rain gives us the heightened reality of an MGM musical to highlight the ways in which we create our own realities. Whatever we believe can become true. If we just close our eyes and imagine, we can make anything happen, even a BROADWAY MELODY production number. The heightened reality of a musical allows us to witness what might be possible.

Metamorphoses

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman.

Performed February 22-24 and March 1-3, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.

Called by Time the “theater event of the year,” Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses brings Ovid’s tales to stunning visual life. Set in and around a large pool of water, Metamorphoses juxtaposes the ancient and the contemporary in both language and image to reflect the variety and persistence of narrative in the face of inevitable change. Nominated for three 2002 Tony Awards, including “Best Play,” Metamorphoses earned Zimmerman a Tony for “Best Direction of a Play.”

Myrrha Now: Reimagining Classic Myth And Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses In The #Metoo Era, Claire A. Pukszta

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper represents the final culmination of a theater senior project. The project consisted of an analytical research paper, performance in a mainstage department production, and supporting process documentation. I portrayed Myrrha, Hunger, Zeus, and others in a production of the play Metamorphoses.

Through research on Mary Zimmerman’s 1998 play Metamorphoses, adapted from the works of Roman poet Ovid, this thesis grapples with the historical meaning of the myth of Myrrha. A polarizing figure, Myrrha was cursed to fall in lust with her father. By exploring of portrayals sexual assault onstage, I tackle themes of audience relationships to …

Masks: A New Face For The Theatre, Alexi Michael Siegel

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

This study seeks to reimagine and reinvigorate modern theatre’s relationship with mask work through text-based historical research and practice-based artistic research. It focuses on three ancient mask traditions: pre- and early Hellenistic Greek theatre, Japanese Noh theatre, and Nigerian Egungun masquerades. Research on these mask traditions and recent masked productions informed the development and staging of a masked performance of Charles Mee’s Life is a Dream. The production featured sections for each of the ancient masking styles and a final section that explored masks in a contemporary theatrical style. As a whole, this creative project pulls masks out of …

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 …

The Launch 2018: A Senior Cabaret, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2018-2019 Season

The senior Acting and Musical Theatre Majors will take their final bows on the Fritsche Theatre stage in this 90 minute program of songs, dance, scenes, and monologues. See performances from some the students' favorite productions, including Thoroughly Modern Millie, Dreamgirls, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Rumors, My Fair Lady, and Hamilton!

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 …

Arcadia, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1998-1999 Season

The Underlying theme throughout the show is Classicism vs. Romanticism. The Classic ideals of balance and intellect, seen in Greek Geometry and the ordered universe, become challenged by the emotion and chaos of the Romantic World. The tensions that two completely conflicting philosophies create drive Arcadia forward, making a potentially academic play fun and exciting to watch.

Place Of Joyful Gathering: The Story Of Cleveland's Karamu House, Jacey Kepich

Researchers, Instructors, & Staff Scholarship

Recognized as the oldest active African American theater in the United States, Karamu House is truly a ‘Cleveland collection’. Portions of its history are housed in several institutions: the Cleveland Public Library, Western Reserve Historical Society, and Cleveland State University. In 2021 Karamu donated its administrative and programmatic archives to Case Western Reserve University’s Kelvin Smith Library. CWRU is home to one of the first academic theater programs in the country, and given that the Karamu materials will live alongside KSL’s archives of Playhouse Square – a venerable institution that dominates the cultural spotlight – KSL will help make Karamu’s …

Macbeth...The Tragedy Of, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2018-2019 Season

A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth

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

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

Big Fish, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2018-2019 Season

When Edward Bloom becomes ill, his son, William, travels to be with him. William has a strained relationship with Edward because his father has always told exaggerated stories about his life, and William thinks he's never really told the truth. Even on his deathbed, Edward recounts fantastical anecdotes. When William, who is a journalist, starts to investigate his father's tales, he begins to understand the man and his penchant for storytelling.

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.

The Pavilion, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2005 Summer Theatre

Hailed by critics as an "an Our Town for our time," this play is by turns poetic and comic, romantic and philosophical. Peter returns to his twenty-year high-school reunion with dreams of winning back Kari, the girl he left behind after an unexpected pregnancy ended their relationship. Standing in Peter's way is Kari's bitter-as-ever resentment, her husband and the fact that Peter still hasn't grown up. As the night progresses, both Peter and Kari are led, through their interactions with a host of characters all played by a virtuosic Narrator, to face the consequences of choices made long ago and …

Crimes Of The Heart, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2005 Summer Theatre

The three MaGrath sisters are back together in their hometown of Hazelhurst, Mississippi for the first time in a decade. Lenny, the eldest, never left Hazelhurst -- she is the caretaker of the sisters’ cantankerous Old Granddaddy. Meg, the middle sister, left home to pursue stardom as a singer in Los Angeles, but has, so far, only found happiness at the bottom of a bottle. And Babe, the youngest, has just been arrested for the murder of her abusive husband, Zackery Bottrelle. Under the scorching heat of the Mississippi sun, past resentments bubble to the surface and each sister must …

Rounding Third, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2005 Summer Theatre

Don is a coach who believes that winning is what is most important in baseball, and he is all about the game. Michael is his assistant coach, a businessman who believes that kids should have fun when they play baseball. These conflicting personalities instantly clash. Don's kid is the star pitcher of the team, and Michael's kid can barely remember to keep his shoelaces tied. In addition, there are extramarital affairs going on (though the truth of them is well-hidden), and Michael's job is not all that it seems.

https://stageagent.com/shows/play/1899/rounding-third

The Taming Of The Shrew, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1985-1986 Season

A ribald, raucous, rowdy look at the eternal “battle of the sexes.” The beautiful Catherine has acquired a reputation as “Kate the Curst” because she apparently does not like the kind of potential suitors encouraged by her father. Enter the swashbuckling but roguish adventurer, Petruchio, who wants both Catherine and her dowry. The father happily agrees to the match and the resulting “battle” ends up as one of Shakespeare's most famous love matches.

Snoopy!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2018 Summer Theatre

The musical sequel to YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN – deserves each of its three exclamation points. Based on the beloved Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz, the show sparkles with wit and warmth as it depicts life as seen through the eyes of Schulz’s unforgettable characters.

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 …

Oklahoma!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2018 Summer Theatre

Rodgers & Hammerstein's first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative, having set the standards and established the rules of musical theatre still being followed today. Set in a Western Indian territory just after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story. Although the road to true love never runs smooth, with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love's journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road. …

The Fantasticks, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1974 Summer Theatre

The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play The Romancers by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into falling in love by pretending to feud.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantasticks

Illuminating The Eighteenth-Century British Stage: Perfecting Performance Through Education, Bethany Csomay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Actress studies has become “a truly interdisciplinary field” that “intersect[s] with art, music, literature, history, economics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, and fashion” (Engel 752). While much scholarship has been conducted on the actress’ life, interaction with material culture, public spectacle, authority, femininity, and writings, the role of an actress’ education in her success has yet to be explored adequately or examined beyond biography. My project seeks to examine the educational beginnings of actresses and I assert there are three modes that eighteenth-century actresses often undertook to cultivate their celebrity and success: inheritance, discovery, and trial and error. This project examines the …

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 …

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

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

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