À l’aube des années cinquante, l’œuvre de George Cukor interroge sa double réputation de cinéaste sophistiqué et de "cinéaste des femmes" acquise durant les années trente et consacrée en 1939 par Femmes. Le traitement privilégié du féminin dans ses films est renforcé dans le contexte d’après-guerre. En 1950, Cukor réalise la comédie sociale romantique Comment l’esprit vient aux femmes et le drame social Ma vie à moi : tous deux racontent un destin de femme et représentent une aspiration de relier positivement le féminin au drame. Les femmes y prennent en charge l’action et y construisent les motifs de leur libération, tels que la solidarité. Le passage des années cinquante aux années soixante se joue dans la confirmation que le féminin, que j’étudie comme un genre troublé (Judith Butler), et le cinéma de Cukor sont reliés et interagissent dans le sens de la modernité jusqu’à la distance libératrice des années soixantedix et au dernier film du cinéaste, Riches et Célèbres (1981). Certaines formes cinématographiques nouvelles, imaginaires et quasi expérimentales (Gaston Bachelard), s’avèrent particulièrement représentatives du travail de Cukor par leur récurrence dans les effets scéniques et le jeu des actrices. Face à la comédie qui émanciperait les femmes de leur destin par le dérèglement social et comportemental, le drame féminin cukorien favoriserait le surgissement d’héroïnes capables de prendre en charge leur libération à l’écran. Il y aurait alors un faux paradoxe entre la banalisation des caractères que Cukor met en scène et son travail de direction toujours très élaboré à l’endroit de ses actrices, placées dans la double épreuve de leur talent et d’une certaine représentation de la condition féminine. / In the early fifties, Cukor's work challenges his own reputation as a director of sophisticated women films — a reputation he had acquired during the thirties, culminating with Women in 1939. His films increasingly center on presenting the feminine during post-war years. In 1950, Cukor directs a romantic social comedy, Born Yesterday and a social drama A Life of Her Own : both narrate a female destiny and link up drama and the feminine in a positive manner. In these films, women are taking responsibility for the action and articulate the motivations for their liberation, for example through solidarity. The turn from the fifties to the sixties confirms that the feminine, seen here as a confused gender (Judith Butler) and Cukor's cinema interact in a modern way creating a liberating distance his seventies film and up to the filmmaker's last film, Rich and Famous (1981). Some imaginary and nearly experimental new cinematic forms (Gaston Bachelard), notably in terms of mise-en-scène and acting, turn out to be particularly representative of Cukor's work. As opposed to comedies that purport to emancipate women from their destiny by upsetting social and behavioral attitudes, Cukor’s female centered drama films show emancipation through the emergence of female characters who take their life into their hands. Hence a false paradox: Cukor may develop commonplace characters, yet the complexity of his actresses’ direction puts their talent to the test and questions a certain representation of women's position in society.

Au Maroc, le théâtre comme la situation de la femme n’ont cessé d’évoluer parallèlement, et ce depuis l’indépendance. Alors que pendant le protectorat, le théâtre était un moyen d’expression politique à même de traduire des aspirations nationalistes, il est devenu par la suite un moyen d’expression artistique auquel les hommes de théâtre de l'époque ont voulu donner une identité marocaine en s’inspirant du patrimoine populaire. Va leur succéder une nouvelle génération, consciente des faiblesses du théâtre marocain et des attentes du public. Elle va essayer de bâtir les assises d’une nouvelle écriture et donner un nouvel essor à la pratique théâtrale. Les femmes, quant à elles, et ce, dés les années 50, ont bénéficié de l’accès à l’instruction publique et par là au domaine professionnel. Grâce au travail inlassable du mouvement associatif mené en grande partie par des femmes, notamment dans les années 80, et enfin, par la réforme de 2004 de la Moudawana, la condition féminine a connu de grandes avancées. En conséquence, le statut des femmes a commencé à changer ainsi que leur image sociale. En partant de ces changements socio-politiques et en analysant différentes pièces de théâtre, nous avons essayé d’interroger l’évolution de l’image de la femme. Nous constatons ainsi que la représentation des femmes change selon les styles d’écritures et les époques. Au fil du temps, la palette des rôles féminins s’est diversifiée. Les personnages féminins occupent les premiers rôles, ils sont plus complexes et plus poétiques. Ils sortent du silence et prennent la parole, une parole souvent politique. / In Morocco, the theater and the condition of women have never ceased to evolve side by side, from the independence onwards. While during the Protectorate, theater was a mean to express political views allowing to reveal the nationalist aspirations and question the moroccan identity. It later became a vehicle of artistic expression for theater makers who wanted to give it a native identity by drawing from the popular heritage. They were followed by a new generation of playwrights and directors, aware of the limitations of moroccan theater and of the audience's expectations. They tried to set the ground for a new writing approach and enabled further developments for theater practice. In the 1950's, women gained access to public education and thus to qualified work. Owing a lot to the tireless efforts of numerous associations often led by women, especially in the 1980’s, and because of the 2004 reform of the "Moudawana ", the condition of women has moved forward in Morocco. As a result, the status of women and their social image has started to change. By considering the social and economic changes and by analyzing different plays, we have tried to question the image of women. We also point out that the representation of women varies according to the era and to the style of writing. As a result, as time passes, the choices and range of feminine roles in the theater have become wider and more diversified. The feminine characters are now seen in major roles which are more complex and more poetic. Women, in both public and theatrical life, have taken “the floor” to speak... often politically.

Notre approche concernant Maria Casarès est une découverte de son art où sa propre recherche tient une place importante. Elle est en effet une des figures de proue du théâtre de la deuxième moitié du XXème siècle qui poursuit sa route jusqu'à devenir une Figure du théâtre français. D'elle, on garde les visages de la Mort d'Orphée de Cocteau ou de la femme fatale des Dames du Bois de Boulogne de Bresson, sa participation au T.N.P. Et pourtant ceci ne constitue qu'une étape dans une trajectoire où la comédienne va s'enrichir à chaque fois de ses propres découvertes. Au delà de son image de monstre sacré, on se rend compte que Maria Casarès est d'abord une comédienne qui se crée une manière propre d'aborder la scène. Par son art authentique, elle possède une poétique de l'acteur. Celle-ci la situe dans un cheminement nomade où elle traverse les courants du théâtre, dans une quête à la fois artistique et identitaire. C'est cette trajectoire qu'elle partage avec des metteurs en scène complices, de Marcel Herrand à Jorge Lavelli, en passant par Jean Vilar, Bernard Sobel, Bruno Bayen, Patrice Chéreau, Denis Llorca, Jean Gillibert, Maurice Béjart entre autres. / Our approach to Maria Casarès is a discovery of her art where her own research has an important place. She is effectively one of the figureheads in the theatre of the second half of the 20th century. Because of her, we remember the faces in "La mort d'Orphée" by Cocteau, or la femme fatale in "Les dames du Bois de Boulogne" by Bresson, her participation at the T.N.P. Even so, these are only steps in a future where the actress will enrich her knowledge by her own discoveries. Beyond her reputation as a master in the art of theatre we realise that Maria Casarès is above all an actress who invented her personal way to approach the stage. With her authentic art she possessed the poetics of an actor. This is her nomadic road, where she navigates through theatre in a search which is at the same time identity and art. On this path she shares her search with her director friends, Marcel Herrand and Jorge Lavelli. Also with Jean Vilar, Bernard Sobel, Bruno Bayen, Patrice Chéreau, Denis Llorca, Jean Gillibert, Maurice Béjart and others.

Art is too ethereal a thing to judge by tangible measure. There is no scale to weigh a performance on, no level to gauge a character’s balance, no plumb line to measure its depth. No critic can appoint an allotment of stars to represent the worth of a production, and the audience, though a vital participant within the performance experience, cannot act as Jury and deliberate together to reach an absolute verdict of approval or disapproval. How then can an actor go about working towards giving a successful performance? The Merry Wives of Windsor was written at a time when wives were not permitted to tread upon the stage at all. During Shakespeare’s era the roles of women were played only by cherub faced young men. The version of The Merry Wives of Windsor which was presented by the University of Central Florida in the fall of 2002 was not, however, set in those pre-femme days. The production was presented as if being performed by a traveling acting troupe of men and women with a repertoire of which The Merry Wives of Windsor was only a part. I was cast as Mistress Ford. Embarking on a Shakespeare play is no small feat. Earnest research on the lives of the Elizabethans will offer up clues into the mindset, customs, beliefs, and theories of the age in which the play was written. Modern day actors preparing themselves to take on a Shakespearian role may also look also to the theories and theatrical trends of his or her own time and those that have led up to it. This research is the foundation on which a performance must be built. The theatrical performer must act as his own instrument in the symphony of his performance. Stage acting is an art form which enfolds many forms of expressive artistic communication. The mind, the body, the voice, the emotions and in my opinion the soul must all come into play to reach the summit of an artistic theatrical performance and the actor’s journey must be comprised of exercises to stretch and strengthen each area of the actor’s instrument. A vigorous vocal regimen must be crafted and adhered to. An analytical investigation of the script is required. The actor’s physicality must be tailored to portray the proper class, energy level and spirit of his character. The emotional life of the character should be thoroughly probed and the performer must find a way to fully embody the soul of the character and the age in which the character lived. In this particular case, I came to find that the usual modern day methods of performance preparation most commonly used by actors of our age were not in themselves enough to bring me to what I felt was a successful performance. I came instead to discover that a Brechtian approach to Shakespearian acting solved many of the challenges I faced when coming up short in my prior attempts to use a more Stanislavsky based method. Although the very nature of art makes it impossible to judge by tangible measure, there are very tangible ways to go about preparing for a role upon the stage. No single approach can work for every piece. One must exercise the mind, voice, body and soul to perform a role as weighty as a Shakespearian character. Proper research, analysis, and a regimen built upon exercises for the body and voice are the tools available for the serious actor. This thesis outlines a University actress’ use of these tools and details how the discovery of Brechtian elements within the UCF production of Merry Wives opened doors to a new way of handling the portrayal Mistress Ford.

Firstly, in 2019, I played a role of a woman who got married to a married man, later after the series aired to the public the role fired back on me. I observed the audience’s reaction exceeded everyone's expectations. The audience is divided into two parts the first part is the women who expressed their anger in a very aggressive and strong way, and the second part who was exciting to the character. The first part of the audience used several offensive, strong, and insulting words. The audience's reaction was very emotional, and they used all the tools to express their feelings for example, they used social media platforms and verbal violence when they saw me in the street. On the other hand, sometimes the women’s reaction was interesting in my point of view when one of the women personalized the role by imagining her husband betrayed her with the character for real. Secondly, in 2021 an actress from Egypt Mona Zaki pretends to take off her panty in a scene in the film. Although she didn’t take it off, she chose to symbolize the action, the scene fired back badly on her and her personal life as well. The audience couldn't compartmentalize between the acting and her personal life and personality. Therefore, we focus on the audience impact and the way the audience impacts the actress in the situated areas in this research, what would happen when the audience can't distinguish between the role and the actor's real Character?

Laura Linney has an extensive education and experience in performance, which has influenced her to create a well-defined methodology when she approaches new roles. She uses a dialectical approach to performance. This approach has two parts as she outlined in a personal interview: phase one is her research, education, understanding of the script, and previous experiences working together to create a character, while phase two is her release of control over the character and the opportunity for the text (film or otherwise) and role to take on their own distinct personalities. This means that Linney eventually gives up agency over her characters in order for them to be effective and successful in the whole of a film. In effect, her characters are created by numerous influences within and outside her range of control. My intentions in this article are to prove that this dialectical methodology is prominent within all aspects of Laura Linney?s performances. In fact, I suggest that her utilization of this technique is what makes her a dynamic, effective, and unique actress. The dialectical nature of her performance techniques can be observed most effectively in specific breakthrough moments within her films. These moments exist most prominently in Linney?s films that are rooted in close character analysis like You Can Count On Me, The Savages, and the HBO mini-series John Adams. Close textual analyses of these scenes show a dramatic hiatus from the standard performance that she has used to help build a character. They show distinct differences between characters, which reinforces my point that each role is not only mandated by Linney?s creative power over her acting, but also a complete release of this control. They highlight how Linney allows herself to be directed and molded to develop deep, complex characters that work organically within the greater text of the film.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T16:51:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ROSI.pdf: 1409310 bytes, checksum: 183fc9e585da323d0f839c3c07854ee3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research presents a reflection of Brazilian feminist theater, a theatrical experience that seeks different forms of creation in its esthetics. The poetics involved in making this kind of theater focuses towards issues that refer to the social organization of women, be it within personal or social realms, for both these are related to political and social issues. Being that one of its characteristics is polysemy, feminist theater opens different possibilities in its creative process. Feminist theater can be considered a political theater because it deals with feminist issues, consequently dealing with the idea of polis, therefore constitutes a possible tool for triggering educational attitudes. Although the debate surrounding this theme has been sedimented in the United States and England since the 1960´s, in Brazil it is still in the process of being diffused within the academic realm, and for this reason receives due attention in this work. In order to carry forward this discussion, it became necessary to comprehend what feminism is, being that it is a term (whose concept presents itself) with certain incompleteness. Therefore, a choice was made to present historical passages of the feminist movement, which also provided insight into the implied ideologies, in order to understand the development of their proposals, as well as some of the important transformations that occurred in the social structure. To understand what feminist theater is, in relation to referrals from discussions of activists in the theater, the construction of the image of women in society, and the routing of criticism in artistic productions in respect to the representability of women in the scene, it was necessary to conduct a survey of critical theories and practices of the U.S. and British experiences, to discuss ideological, aesthetic and poetic issues within the relationship between theater and feminism. The object of this research is devoted to the discussion of the scenario of Brazilian feminist productions. In relation to this type of theater, the work of two Brazilian actresses are presented: Colla and Azevedo, legitimizing the presence and voice of these actresses, as well as giving visibility to their artistic productions. A dialogue is established with the work of these actresses in order to articulate the theory of feminist theater, with its aesthetic, poetic and ideological practices, bringing to Brazil the discussion of feminist theater. Finally, some perspectives are drawn to contribute to the improvement of Brazilian theater production, giving it visibility and promoting its growth / Esta pesquisa traz a reflexão sobre o teatro feminista brasileiro, uma prática teatral que busca diferentes formas de criação em sua estética. A poética desse fazer teatral está voltada para questões referentes à mulher na organização social, sejam elas pessoais ou de ordem social, pois ambos os tipos estão relacionados a questões políticas e sociais. Tendo como uma das características a polissemia, o teatro feminista abre diferentes possibilidades para seu processo de criação. O teatro feminista pode ser considerado um teatro político, pois trata de questões da agenda feminista, consequentemente referentes à polis, e assim constitui possível ferramenta para o desencadeamento de atitudes pedagógicas. Embora a discussão em torno da temática aqui em questão se encontre sedimentada nos Estados Unidos e Inglaterra desde os anos 1960, no Brasil ainda está em processo de difusão em âmbito acadêmico, e por isso recebe, neste trabalho, a devida atenção. Para levar a termo esta discussão tornou-se necessário compreender melhor o que é feminismo, por se tratar de um termo que apresenta certa incompletude como conceito. Assim sendo, fez-se a opção por apresentar algumas passagens históricas do movimento feminista, o que propiciou também o esclarecimento sobre as ideologias implicadas, de modo a compreender como ocorreu o desenvolvimento de suas propostas, assim como algumas das importantes transformações ocorridas na estrutura social. Para compreender o que é teatro feminista, em relação aos encaminhamentos das discussões das ativistas no teatro, à construção da imagem da mulher na sociedade, e ao encaminhamento da crítica em suas produções artísticas no que diz respeito à representatividade da mulher na cena, foi preciso realizar um levantamento sobre as teorias críticas e as práticas das experiências das estadunidenses e britânicas, que discutem questões ideológicas, estéticas e poéticas na articulação entre teatro e feminismo. O objeto de pesquisa é voltado à discussão em torno das encenações brasileiras de caráter feminista. Com relação a esse tipo de teatro, são apresentados os trabalhos de duas atrizes brasileiras: Colla e Azevedo, legitimando a presença e voz dessas atrizes, assim como dando visibilidade a suas produções artísticas. É estabelecido um diálogo com o trabalho dessas atrizes com o objetivo de articular a teoria do teatro feminista com suas práticas estéticas, poéticas e ideológicas, localizando no Brasil a discussão sobre o teatro feminista. Finalmente, são traçadas algumas perpectivas visando contribuir com o aperfeiçoamento da produção teatral brasileira, dando-lhe visibilidade e promovendo seu incremento

Dans la lignée des « romans de l’actrice » de la fin du XIXe siècle, plusieurs romanciers français et américains prolongent la fortune littéraire de cette figure au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, dans un siècle marqué par l’essor du cinéma et plus largement de la culture populaire. Il s’agit d’analyser comment la littérature perçoit et raconte ces changements à travers la figure de l’actrice, que celle-ci soit inventée ou inspirée de personnes réelles. Les romans de l’actrice du second XXe siècle se caractérisent par une forte homogénéité des enjeux narratifs et empruntent à d’autres genres, tels que le roman de l’artiste et le conte de fées. La sémiologie du personnage central est marquée par un métier qui sème le trouble dans son identité, entre le moi, les rôles et la persona et par l’importance d’un corps portant les marques hyperboliques du genre et de la beauté. Les actrices romanesques illustrent la domination masculine et bien rares sont celles qui trouvent une capacité d’agir et se font « actrices » de leur devenir. L’écriture romanesque opère ainsi une « défiguration » de la figure qui expose la déchéance derrière les images splendides, ou exacerbe ces images pour faire de la merveille un monstre. L’enjeu de ces textes est également intermédial : il s’agit, pour le roman, de se mesurer au cinéma qui l’a remplacé dans son statut de récit populaire, en imitant ses procédés mais aussi en racontant ses modes de réception dans une vision parfois iconoclaste. S’opère ainsi une réflexion sur la littérature et la culture à travers la figure de l’actrice, artiste sans œuvre propre, parfois double de l’auteur dans des jeux entre référence et fiction. / Following in the footsteps of late-19th-century “actress novels”, a number of French and American novelists prolonged the literary fortunes of the actress-protagonist in the years immediately following the Second World War, in the broader context of a century heavily influenced by the rise of the cinema and, more largely, of popular culture. This dissertation analyzes how literature perceives and recounts these changes through the character of the actress, be she fictional or based on a real-life person. Actress novels of the second half of the 20th century are characterized by their predominantly homogenous narrative aims and borrow from other genres, such as the artist novel and the fairytale. The semiology of the main character is marked by a profession that confuses her identity between her own ego, her characters and her persona, and by the importance placed on her body that bears the hyperbolic markers of gender and beauty. Novelistic actresses illustrate male domination and few of them are capable of autonomous action, of becoming independent “actors” of their own destinies. Novelistic writing thereby causes a “disfiguration” of the very figure that exposes the degradation behind the splendid images, or exacerbates those images in order to transform the marvel into a monster. The goal of these texts is also intermedial: the novel is intended to be compared to cinema, which recently supplanted it in its status of popular tale, by imitating its techniques but also by recounting its modes of reception through a sometimes-iconoclastic lens. This leads to a reflection on literature and on culture via the figure of the actress, an artist without her own work, sometimes a clone of the author in a game between referentiality and fiction.

”vivid and fiery”
  Carolina Müller as phenomenon at the Royal Theatre Carolina Müller is identical with the Royal Theatre and she was the first professional female opera singer in Sweden. The audience’s perception of her stage personality and her agency in her portrayal of the title role in C. W. Gluck’s opera Alceste at the Stockholm opera in 1781 will throw light on her quality; her singing and acting style according to the affect she created on stage linked to the age of sensibility. Carolina Müller’s agency constitutes a gap in Swedish theatre history which will be examined in order to reach a better understanding of the structures behind her position. Willmar Sauter’s concept of the theatrical event, but with a feministic perspective on the role of the actress, is used to analyze her performativity, which I characterize as both passionate and sentimental. I use historical descriptive sources to understand her stage personality, and I will look into her performance of Alceste from the perspective of late eighteenth century acting. Secondly, I look into the prescriptive sources linked to Alceste, to examine how her stage personality affected the production, she had a great impact on the creation of the opera characters written for her after her Alceste. Finally, I highlight how the European exchange allowed her to emerge as a phenomenon. Telling her story is a contribution to the history of the prima donnas of the north, and thereby to the field of feminist historiography.  Carolina Müller, Gluck, Alceste, actress, Royal Theatre, phenomenon, stage personality, agency, theatrical event, performativity, sensibility, gaze

Two Rooms, by Lee Blessings, was selected for performance at the University of New Orleans during the fall of 2015. I studied and portrayed the role of Lainie Wells as my thesis project. The purpose of my thesis was to research a character physically, psychologically, and emotionally as an actress and create a character through the eyes of Lainie Wells. The following is a brief breakdown of the structure of my written thesis: biography of Lee Blessing, hostage families and their mental state as it relates to the Iranian hostage crisis, mass media effects on Syria, The Hunt for Bin Laden, the rehearsal process, and a scored script including all actions and objectives; a review of my work, my own conclusions based on my process and character arc, photographs of my performance, a professional headshot along with my resume to highlight the significance to my work as an artist.