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Articles 1 - 30 of 34
Full-Text Articles in Theatre History
Animals In Entertainment: Ethical Considerations, Industry Regulations, Incidents, And The Future Of Animal Performers, Kendyll Conlisk
Animals In Entertainment: Ethical Considerations, Industry Regulations, Incidents, And The Future Of Animal Performers, Kendyll Conlisk
Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters
Some of our favorite films, theatre productions, and live performances involve animals. A Dog's Purpose, Annie, Barnum and Bailey circus; the list is endless. But have you ever wondered, "How do they train them?" and "Is this benefiting or harming the animals?" Animals in entertainment have a long history dating back to ancient civilizations. Research done by World Animal Protection found that three out of four tourist animal attractions involve some form of animal abuse, and up to 550,000 animals around the world suffer due to these cruel attractions for human amusement. This does not imply that all animals used …
A New Exit: The Impact Of Historical Play Adaptations On Modern Audiences, Karli Jean Lonnquist
A New Exit: The Impact Of Historical Play Adaptations On Modern Audiences, Karli Jean Lonnquist
SURF Posters and Papers
Contemporary theatrical adaptation involves deconstructing, reimagining, and rewriting historical plays for modern audiences. Adaptation appropriates theatrical conventions, changes the lens through which the audience may view the play, and offers new entry points into thinking and practice. Adaptation asks, “why this source as theatre now?” and proposes that history provides tools for engagement with contemporary issues. By employing a Practice as Research (PaR) methodology, I will investigate the art of historical adaptation and adapt No Exit, a 1945 existentialist play by Jean-Paul Sartre, through the lenses of constructivism and performance studies. I will develop my script through collaborative workshops, stage …
Was It Good? A Look At The Golden-Ticket Question Of Societal Preferences In Theatre, Carina Leland
Was It Good? A Look At The Golden-Ticket Question Of Societal Preferences In Theatre, Carina Leland
Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters
What makes theatre “good?” There are some common answers that critics and the public agree upon, but the guidelines of good theatre have changed greatly throughout history. Many playwrights and critics have created philosophies that attempted to define popular theatre in their time or according to their personal views. Today’s opinion on “good” has its own set of characteristics that the majority of society enjoys, which is unique from any historical manifesto. Furthermore, our modern consensus doesn’t take into account the wildly different nature of individual preferences; while I enjoy light-hearted coming-of-age stories, others find deeper satisfaction from a thought-provoking …
Sweat Equity: Lynn Nottage's Radical Dialectic Of Deindustrialization, Jocelyn L. Buckner
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, …
Sweet Fooling: Ethical Humor In King Lear And Levinas, Kent R. Lehnhof
Sweet Fooling: Ethical Humor In King Lear And Levinas, Kent R. Lehnhof
English Faculty Articles and Research
"In recent years, scholars have increasingly put the works of William Shakespeare (1564-1623) in dialogue with the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas (1905-1995)... The majority of these Shakespearean references are to Hamlet and Macbeth, but contemporary critics working in the vein of Levinas have tended to favor King Lear. No Shakespearean play has been subjected to Levinasian analysis more fully or more frequently.5 This critical proclivity is not unwarranted, for Shakespeare's tragic play and Levinas's ethical writings tell the same basic story: that of the egoist who heedlessly pursues his own interests until he is until he …
“It’S War That's Cruel”: The Evolution Of Wartime Representation And ‘The Other’ In The American Musical, Leana Sottile
“It’S War That's Cruel”: The Evolution Of Wartime Representation And ‘The Other’ In The American Musical, Leana Sottile
War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses
Musical theater has historically been a venue for Americans to come to terms with our past and present on both a national and an individual level as it stages and restages war mythology on the Broadway Stage. As the nation has won, lost, and abandoned foreign conflicts, the connotation, remembrance, and commemoration of war in American memory has shifted from romanticizing former conflicts to renegotiating their memory. Thus, this project examines how twentieth-century war memory is represented in the American musical, starting in the 1940s and continuing up to the present day. To do so, the phenomenon will be examined …
The Good War?: Reinterpreting The Second World War In Contemporary Musical Theatre, Leana Sottile
The Good War?: Reinterpreting The Second World War In Contemporary Musical Theatre, Leana Sottile
SURF Posters and Papers
For years, American musicals have contributed to the mythologization of the Second World War and upheld ‘Greatest Generation’ nostalgia in mainstream war memory. For example, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific is effectively silent on the brutality and dehumanization of the Pacific Theater and exoticizes the experience of service members. In the past five years, the New York theatre scene has seen three shows that portray the Second World War more accurately and less romantically: Allegiance, Bandstand, and Alice by Heart. While none of these shows ran for longer than a few months in New York, in that short …
Desegregation Through Entertainment: Rodgers And Hammerstein’S South Pacific As An Instrument Of Military Policy, Leana Sottile
Desegregation Through Entertainment: Rodgers And Hammerstein’S South Pacific As An Instrument Of Military Policy, Leana Sottile
Voces Novae
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific became a staple of mainstream popular culture. However, the musical also served a specific function within the American military where its usage by the United Service Organizations and Department of Defense was widespread. This case study examines how South Pacific arguably served a way to ease the blow of desegregation on the military by other means, in this case, entertainment. This was achieved by combining the show’s progressive views on racial tolerance with the prevalent wartime nostalgia and romanticism in the piece. All of …
Twinship And Marriage In The Comedy Of Errors, Kent R. Lehnhof
Twinship And Marriage In The Comedy Of Errors, Kent R. Lehnhof
English Faculty Articles and Research
This article proposes that Shakespeare uses twinship and marriage in The Comedy of Errors to reflect on the importance of individuality and interrelation in the formation of identity. Specifically, this article shows how The Comedy of Errors sets the twin relation against the marital relation, ultimately implying that marriage—imperfect, everyday marriage—has as much subjective impact as the extraordinary bond between identical twins. As amazing as it might be to see two persons sharing "one face, one voice, one habit," The Comedy of Errors suggests that the twin relation does not surpass in significance the equally marvelous relation whereby husband and …
Theology, Phenomenology, And The Divine In King Lear, Kent R. Lehnhof
Theology, Phenomenology, And The Divine In King Lear, Kent R. Lehnhof
English Faculty Books and Book Chapters
"In what follows, then, I would like to think through Levinas's ideas on transcendence and ethics in such a way as to map out a new pathway for approaching Shakespeare's great tragedy. As unorthodox as it may sound, I propose to shed light on the darkling religiosity of King Lear by turning-not to the theological doctrines of early modem Christians-but to the postmodern ethics of a twentieth-century Jew."
Cross(Ing) The Line: Leadership In Devised Theatre, Monica Furman
Cross(Ing) The Line: Leadership In Devised Theatre, Monica Furman
Honors Papers and Posters
“Traditional" (Western) theatre focuses on the relationship between the playwright and the director. Devised theatre is a reaction to the dominant ideology; it is ensemble-created original work. A group of artists collaborate and create a play with no script and, sometimes, no initial theme or message. They use various different art forms as well as interviews and narratives to create a theatrical experience.
Antitheatricality And Irrationality: An Alternative View, Kent Lehnhof
Antitheatricality And Irrationality: An Alternative View, Kent Lehnhof
English Faculty Articles and Research
"Over the last three decades, antitheatrical authors like Stephen Gosson, Phillip Stubbes, and William Prynne have become increasingly visible in the literary and cultural studies of the early modern period. Even so, the tendency has been to treat these authors as ideological extremists: reactionary hacks whose opposition to stage plays originates in outrageous ideas of the self, impossible notions of right and wrong, and bizarre beliefs about humanity’s susceptibility to external suggestion. This characterization can be traced back to several of the pioneering studies in the field, including Jonas Barish’s The Antitheatrical Prejudice (1985) and Laura Levine’s Men in Women’s …
"Pitiful Creature Of Darkness": The Subhuman And The Superhuman In The Phantom Of The Opera, Jessica Sternfeld
"Pitiful Creature Of Darkness": The Subhuman And The Superhuman In The Phantom Of The Opera, Jessica Sternfeld
Music Faculty Books and Book Chapters
"This chapter focuses on The Phantom of the Opera, the megamusical that perhaps most boldly faces the idea of disability head-on, as it stars a character whose face, as one journalist described it, looks 'like melted cheese' (Smith, 1995). The musical's approach to the Phantom's disability is remarkably layered and inconsistent; the Phantom is portrayed in numerous ways (monster, criminal, genius, god, ghost) and his physical disability blurs regularly with his 'soul;' which is where numerous characters locate the origin of his problems. His face and its famous mask covering are both feared and thrilled over, but with a reassuring …
Living Between The Lines: Intersectionality And Self-Actualization In Shakespeare's Plays, Morgan L. Green
Living Between The Lines: Intersectionality And Self-Actualization In Shakespeare's Plays, Morgan L. Green
Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters
More than four hundred years after his death Shakespeare is still the most performed playwright in the English-Speaking World, and even in some cultures vastly different from Shakespeare’s England. Theatre companies continue to make him relevant by exploring new themes and tailoring the productions to the social mores of contemporary audiences. One particular theme being examined more and more by both scholars and theatre artists is diversity and the role of identity in Shakespeare’s works. Three works in which this can be easily examined are Antony and Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice, and Othello with particular attention paid to …
Zoe Wanamaker, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Zoe Wanamaker, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Zoe Wanamaker.
Soon-Tek Oh, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Soon-Tek Oh, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Soon-Tek Oh.
Negro Ensemble Company, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Negro Ensemble Company, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the work and impact of the Negro Ensemble Company.
Anna Deavere Smith, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Anna Deavere Smith, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Anna Deveare Smith.
Charles Sidney Gilpin, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Charles Sidney Gilpin, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Charles Sidney Gilpin.
Earle Hyman, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Earle Hyman, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Earle Hyman.
Henrietta Vinton Davis, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Henrietta Vinton Davis, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Henrietta Vinton Davis.
James Earl Jones, Jocelyn L. Buckner
James Earl Jones, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of James Earl Jones.
Lane Nishikawa, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Lane Nishikawa, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Lane Nishikawa.
Mako Iwamatsu, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Mako Iwamatsu, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Mako Iwamatsu.
Ruby Dee, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Ruby Dee, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Ruby Dee.
Sidney Poitier, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Sidney Poitier, Jocelyn L. Buckner
Theatre Faculty Books and Book Chapters
An overview of the life, work, and impact of Sidney Poitier.
Understanding Theatre And Its Social Implications In A Modern Context, Sara Curtis
Understanding Theatre And Its Social Implications In A Modern Context, Sara Curtis
Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters
Theatre has been fighting for a proper place in society since its inception in Ancient Greece. Although the ancient civilizations of the western world adored theatre and incorporated it into their daily lives, in later years it struggled to find acceptance. Theaters and theatre professionals often received blame for the spread of disease and rises in miscreant behavior. This yoyo-like trend between acceptance and ostracism continued throughout the ages as theatre and the encompassing societies evolved and changed. Thusly, the theatre has always been a point of contention and discussion. Even to this day, critics and scholars alike theorize and …
Spectacles Of Reform: Theater And Activism In Nineteenth-Century America By Amy E. Hughes (Review), Jocelyn Buckner
Spectacles Of Reform: Theater And Activism In Nineteenth-Century America By Amy E. Hughes (Review), Jocelyn Buckner
Theatre Faculty Articles and Research
In Spectacles of Reform Amy Hughes advocates for “spectacle as methodology” (4), a means of interpreting spectacle in nineteenth-century melodrama, as well as a wide variety of other media, that rehearses and reforms concepts of citizenship and identity related to race, class, gender, and morality. Through this lens, Hughes seeks to answer the questions “where and how do activist spectacles appear before and beyond the theatrical encounter?” and “why is spectacle kept alive through reinvention, revision, and repetition long after the drama is over?” (5). Hughes traces her theory of the spectacular instant through three popular sensation themes of the …
Suzan-Lori Parks: Essays On The Plays And Other Works Edited By Philip C. Kolin (Review), Jocelyn Buckner
Suzan-Lori Parks: Essays On The Plays And Other Works Edited By Philip C. Kolin (Review), Jocelyn Buckner
Theatre Faculty Articles and Research
The anthology Suzan-Lori Parks: Essays on the Plays and Other Works offers new perspectives to the growing body of scholarship about Parks’s artistic achievements. The text features a contextualizing preface and twelve new essays about her plays, novel, and screenplays. It also contains two new interviews, one with Parks herself and another with her longtime friend and collaborator, director Liz Diamond, as well as a timeline featuring major productions of her works from her first play reading in 1984, to projects anticipated for future production on stage and screen. While Parks’s works, and works on Parks are widely anthologized in …
"Spectacular Opacities": The Hyers Sisters' Performances Of Respectability And Resistance, Jocelyn Buckner
"Spectacular Opacities": The Hyers Sisters' Performances Of Respectability And Resistance, Jocelyn Buckner
Theatre Faculty Articles and Research
This essay analyzes the Hyers Sisters, a Reconstruction-era African American sister act, and their radical efforts to transcend social limits of gender, class, and race in their early concert careers and three major productions, Out of Bondage and Peculiar Sam, or The Underground Railroad, two slavery-to-freedom epics, and Urlina, the African Princess, the first known African American play set in Africa. At a time when serious, realistic roles and romantic plotlines featuring black actors were nearly nonexistent due to the country’s appetite for stereotypical caricatures, the Hyers Sisters used gender passing to perform opposite one another as heterosexual lovers in …