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This collection of videos were created by Jonathan Taylor for THEA 4540 (Theatre Drawing and Rendering Techniques) and THEA 3330 (Scenic Design). The majority of the videos provide tutorials on using Vectorworks. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-oer/1011/thumbnail.jpg

The subject of Saudi theatre has not been very well investigated by scholars and researchers, and many agree that there is a lack of resources concerning theatre in Saudi Arabia. Although there are a few studies about Saudi theatre, more studies in the history of Saudi theatre as well as in different aspects of theatre in Saudi Arabia are needed in order to help readers to further understand this subject. Unfortunately, the international community of theatre has not been able to access information about theatre in Saudi Arabia owing to the absence of studies of Saudi theatre in different languages, especially in English; this lack plays a key role in preventing readers from understanding Saudi theatre. This thesis attempts to play a role in bridging this gap in the area of Saudi theatre. It presents, therefore, a historical study of Saudi theatre from the establishment of Saudi Arabia as a country in 1932 to the period in which the General Presidency for Youth Welfare (GPYW) was established as the first organization that was responsible for supervising and producing theatre in Saudi Arabia, 1974-2004. In particular, the main aim of this research is to study and examine the history of theatre in GPYW from its establishment in 1974 up to 2004 when the Saudi government decided to transfer the responsibility of cultural activities from different institutions, including the GPYW, to the Ministry of Culture and Information. This will offer an important picture of the history of Saudi theatre which previously has not been addressed by scholars and researchers. The thesis is divided into six chapters. Owing to the fact that Saudi Arabia is a part of the Arabic world and has some similarities with the other Arabic countries in terms of language, religion, history, and culture, the first chapter will attempt to familiarize readers with the history of theatre in the Arabic world by providing historical background of the Arabic theatre. The second chapter will offer an outline of the historical, religious and social context of Saudi Arabia. The third chapter will present a detailed picture of the beginning of theatre in Saudi Arabia and the theatrical activities that took place in Saudi Arabia from its establishment until 1974, the year in which the GPYW was established. The fourth chapter will be devoted to exploring and understanding the main tendencies of theatre that emerged in Saudi theatre and dominated the history of theatre in this establishment from 1974 until 2004. In addition, a summary of a play of each tendency will be presented. It is essential for readers to be aware of the nature of these tendencies as they move to explore the history of theatre in the GPYW through the next chapters. The fifth and sixth chapters will concentrate on the history of theatre in the two main parts of the GPYW that produced regular theatre; the General Administration for Cultural Activities and the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts. Finally, the thesis will conclude by summarizing its main points and ideas and will provide some recommendations that should help the readers, future researchers, and Saudi practitioners to further improve and develop the subject of theatre in Saudi Arabia.

This thesis seeks to offer a preliminary evaluation of the efficacy of popular theatre forms for the benefit of the contemporary director of didactic performance. Chapter One provides a rationale for the study by outlining the history of popular theatre forms in twentieth-century practices, focusing specifically on those that aimed to be didactic. The chapter then addresses the state of didactic performance at the present time and questions whether the right cultural conditions currently exist to reinvigorate didactic drama with popular theatre forms. The chapter concludes with an outline of my methodology for the development of three research projects designed to analyse the efficacy of popular forms. Chapters Two, Three and Four discuss the development of the research projects specifically. In these chapters I discuss how performers were trained in the popular forms, the development of the performance texts, and, crucially, how the forms were used in performance. The conclusion to each chapter addresses the audiences’ reception to the performances. Chapter Five collates the findings from the research through practice projects and seeks to offer advice to directors of contemporary didactic performance on how popular theatre forms can be used to entertain and educate audiences about issues of concern. This thesis is accompanied by four DVDs, which feature short films of performer training workshops and the research projects. The reader will be directed to the DVDs at specific moments throughout the thesis.

What does it mean to have aesthetic experience? Is it something we are all capable of? Or is our capacity for aesthetic pleasure something we develop, like a skill? What do we mean when we declare something ‘beautiful’, or when we dismiss a performance because it is ‘not to our taste’? Is taste something we possess, concerned with our own personal likes and dislikes? Or is taste part of aesthetic experience, something that happens? Indeed, what is aesthetic experience? And what is the place, in theatre and performance, for the aesthetic qua aesthetic? In this thesis I explore and develop the Kantian notion of aesthetic experience by taking three terms central to the Critique of Judgment – taste, beauty, sublime – and considering their value in the experience and analysis of contemporary performance. In exploring these ideas, the thesis centres on a range of works from the early avant-garde, including extended analyses of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi (1896) and Edward Gordon Craig’s Dido and Æneas. The contemporary works central to the thesis are Proto-type Theater’s Virtuoso (working title) (2009), 3rd Person (redux)(2010) and Whisper (2008). The study also looks at contemporary work from Reckless Sleepers, Station House Opera, and Societas Raffaello Sanzio. The primary theoretical framework is drawn from the field of philosophical aesthetics, and, specifically, the works of Immanuel Kant. In the post-Kantian era, the works of Arthur Schopenhauer, Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Wendy Steiner, Jean-Luc Marion, Arnold Berleant, and Christian H. Wenzel provide a connection to the world of post-Enlightenment aesthetics and interconnect Kantian philosophy with developments in performance and aesthetics. In aiming to uncover the value of the aesthetic as such, the thesis looks to reflect on taste, beauty, and the sublime in a way that offers a fresh and vital perspective on the experience of performance.