This case study aims to better understand the process through which a college theatre actor creates and presents a dereified reified "self' (the character(s) they are portraying) in a play environment, and to consider to what extent this process is conscious. In essence, the actor attempts to take nothing for granted, taking apart and examining assumptions and their cultural context. This study posits that the actor is consciously aware of and is able to recognize and manipulate culture to construct a "self' (the character) within a "play universe." This study is unique as it focuses on the actors themselves as the agents of reification as well as dereification as their processes intersect with the director, the script, and eventually the audience. This study also considers the influence of play theory on developing and breaking the "rules" of the created cultural world of the stage play by utilizing the anthropological research methods supplemented with an analysis of the personal journals of cast members. The subject population is a cast of college-age students (18-28 years old), both males (9) and females (8), from Ball State University's Theatre and Dance Department who participated in the fall 2007 production of The Human Faustus Project, directed by Jennifer Blackmer. / Department of Anthropology

Olu phando lugqale kubalinganiswa abafunzele ukuzibulala kwimidlalo ekhethiweyo yesiXhosa. Kwisahluko sokuqala ngumkhombandlela wolu phando, intshayelelo, injongo yophando, ubume besifundo namagqabantshintshi ngentyila bomi zababhali endicaphule kwiincwadi zabo namagama angundoqo. Kwezinye izahluko ingcingane ezahlukeneyo nalapho endingabalula ekaFreud isayikho-analisisi ndinaba ngokubanzi kumabakala awabekileyo afana nokuzalwa, isini, odiphasi khompleksi nephupha nenxaxheba yakhe ekugubhululeni okuyimfihlakalo ngokuthi aphande ubomi bomntu obadlulayo ukuze kubenokunyangwa impixano ekuye ngaphakathi. Enye ingcingane esetyenzisiweyo yile ingokuzibulala nalapho kuphononongwa ukuba ngobani abazibulalayo, abaqinisekileyo ngokufa kwabo, ukuzibulala ngesivumelwano nembalelwano abazishiyayo xa umntu ezibulala. Kwezinye izahluko ndiyibeka icace intsusa neziphumo zokuzibulala kwamaxhoba, ndayiphicotha nendlela ekuxhatshazwe ngayo amalungelo abalinganiswa ngabazali babo kuba benyanzela le mitshato yebhaxa ngenjongo yokuzuza ikhazi ngentombi zabo, nayo imixholo enxulumene nolu phando ndiyicaphule imixholo efana neyothando noqhankqalazo nomxholo wokutshatiswa kwabantwana ngebhaxa. Isahluko sesihlanu ngumqukumbelo jikelele nophononongo ngolu phando.