A paper on process and examination of growth through performance and experimentation in the Master of Fine Arts in Acting program at the University of Texas at Austin. / text

Theatre and Dance / In fulfillment of my thesis project requirements for the Professional Actor Training Program Master of Fine Arts degree at The University of Texas at Austin, I portrayed the role of Ferdinand, King of Navarre in Love’s Labour’s Lost. This production was presented at the B. Iden Payne Theatre, (Department of Theatre and Dance) with guest artist John Langs directing. This document includes a discussion of certain aspects of my MFA curriculum, and the methodology studied. In addition, it also contains personal observations on my strengths and weaknesses as an actor, and the steps that were taken to transfer those discoveries into my work on stage in the production of Loves Labour’s Lost. / text

M. Tech. Drama / The focus of this research is in the area of Improvisational Theatre and Discourse Analysis. The purpose of this study is to use the selected tools from Improvisational theory and Discourse Analysis (with specific reference to the sub-category known as 'Conversational Analysis') as a way to assess the effectiveness of improvisation in theory, but then, by extension, to explore ways in which these very tools might be used to enhance theatrical improvisation.

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This thesis is the first full-length study of the experiments in performer training undertaken by Alessandro Fersen in his studio laboratory in Rome between 1957 and 1983 and practiced since then in the codified technique which he calls Mizemodrama ( literally, "a drama of memory"). The purpose of my research is twofold: firstly, to focus on the development of the core technique of mnemodrama which is a theatrical simulation of ritual object manipulation employed by shamans in traditional cultures in order to induce an altered state of consciousness. In Fersen's terms such transic techniques provide the contemporary performer with a psychic training which enables him to explore different aspects of his persona rediscovered from both the autobiographical and archetypal levels of his unconscious. Secondly, the thesis presents a case for viewing Alessandro Fersen as a pioneer of post-war experimental theatre practice, particularly from the standpoint of the interdisciplinary nature of his experiments (theatre combined with anthropology, ethnology and psychology) and his focus on training rather than performance within the confines of a laboratory. The philosophy behind his research, its goals and methodology are therefore compared with those of his more celebrated peers, Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook, Richard Schechner and Eugenio Barba. This thesis combines academic research with two periods of observation of the mnemodrama in performance at Fersen's studio in Rome in 1990 and 1992. Subsequently, I was able to introduce Fersen and his work to British academic theatre professionals for the first time at the international conference on Performance, Ritual and Shamanism organised by the Centre for Performance Research and held in Cardiff in January 1993. Finally, the appendices contain Fersen's essential justification for his research, from which the arguments of this thesis have been developed. The appendices also represent the first substantial translation of Fersen's writings on theatre to appear in the English language.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1977. / Bibliography: leaves 46-47.

Thesis (MA Dra)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on May 11, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [158]-165). Also issued in print.

Thesis (PhD) -- AUT University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (553 p. ; 30 cm.) in the Archive at the City Campus (T 616.891523 DAY)