The Living Newspaper Project, a project-based learning model in which students conduct research on a topic, create a script, and perform their work for their peers, has been an outreach program in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin since 2005, but its potential as a professional development program has never been explored at this institution. This MFA Thesis documents the process of designing, implementing, and analyzing a collaborative professional development program for the Living Newspaper Project. The Living Newspaper Project collaborative Professional Development Program was piloted with an English teacher in Austin, Texas, and three Spanish Teachers in Merida, Venezuela. This document examines their thoughts, observations, and experiences in the program, as well as the writings of theorists and the work of other professionals in arts-based professional development to determine what aspects of a professional development program enable teachers to implement a Living Newspaper in their classrooms. / text

This historical case study examined the Federal Theatre's Living Newspaper Spirochete, a dramatized history of syphilis, and its relationship to public health education during the late 1930s. The materials for this historical case study were found in the Library of Congress Federal Theatre Project Special Collection, Fenwick Library, George Mason University, and in materials from the Records of the Works Projects Administration located in the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D. C. The study sought to examine and establish Spirochete as an example of a special relationship among government, health, education and the arts. An investigation of SpIrochete's relationship to public health education and an inquiry into Spirochete as a dramatic form provided the basis for the study. The study found that Spirochetes origins lay in the unique socioeconomic and political environment of Chicago, and of the nation, during the mid to late 1930s. Spirochete was similar to other Living Newspapers in its goal to inform audiences about a pressing social problem, to present facts and information, and then to motivate action resulting in social change. Spirochete 's form and techniques incorporated many of those found in other Federal Theatre Living Newspapers including many short scenes separated by Black Outs, experimental staging, and the innovative use of light, sound and spectacle to underscore and forward the dramatic action. Spirochete, however, was unique in its subject, syphilis, in its historical perspective, and its use of dramatized case histories juxtaposed with on-stage demonstrations of medical and scientific progress. The study determined that the more than 100 performances of Spirochete in five cities made significant contributions to health issues and attitudes in the War on Syphilis. Spirochete helped break the silence that surrounded the nation's number one preventable killer and crippler. Spirochete imparted facts about syphilis in dramatic vignettes and with creative, innovative stagecraft. Although Spirochete cannot be considered great theatre, according to the criteria of most theatre authorities, Spirochete was a vibrant, viable form of education. Spirochete was propaganda, presenting a definite idea for a definite purpose. Conclusions drawn from the study indicate that Spirochete was an intentional, unique, and vital weapon in the War on Syphilis. / Ed. D.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, newspaper theatre was born from the need to inform those who could not read the news for themselves. There have been many contributors and influential factors to the multi-faceted evolution of newspaper theatre. Contributors include Meyerhold, Piscator, Brecht, Hallie Flanagan and Arthur Arent, and Augusto Boal. Influential factors include technology, politics, and the influence of theatrical movements. The most popular and most frequent contributors to contemporary newspaper theatre are the legitimate news media and comedy news shows.

My first exposure to Brecht and his theories was as a high school drama student. One of our year twelve assessment tasks was to write and perform our own Brechtian drama using three or more alienation techniques. I wrote a piece about Religion and Fundamentalism, an issue that I felt strongly about at the time. By carefully following my teacher’s instructions and adhering to the assessment criteria I received a VHA. I concluded from this experience that political theatre could be made by following a simple recipe and combining key ingredients. As my knowledge of theatre and my own creative practice developed I came to understand the great complexity of Brechtian theory and the extreme difficulty of creating effective political theatre, that is, theatre that changes the world. Brecht’s theories have been so thoroughly absorbed into contemporary theatre practice that we no longer identify the techniques of Epic Theatre as necessarily political, nor do we acknowledge its radical origins. I have not yet seen a professional production of a Brechtian play but I’ve absorbed on countless occasions the brilliant reinterpretations of Brecht’s theories within the work of contemporary dramatists. My approach to creating political drama is eclectic and irreverent and I’m prepared to beg borrow and steal from the cannon of political theatre and popular media to create a drama that works, a drama that is both entertaining and provocative. Hoods is an adaptation for young audiences of my original play Kingswood Kids (2001). The process of re-purposing Kingwood Kids to Hoods has been a long and complex one. The process has triggered an analysis of my own creative practice and theory, and demanded an in-depth engagement with the theories and practice of key political theatre makers, most notably Brecht and Boal and more contemporary theatre makers such as Churchill, Kane, and Zeal Theatre. The focus of my exegesis is an inquiry into how the dramatist can create a theatre of currency that challenges the dominant culture and provokes critical thinking and political engagement in young audiences. It will particularly examine Brecht’s theory of alienation and argue its continued relevance, exploring how Brechtian techniques can be applied and re-interpreted through an in-depth analysis of my two works for young people, Hoods and Children of the Black Skirt. For the purposes of this short exegesis I have narrowed the inquiry by focusing on four key areas: Transformation, Structure, Pretext, Metatext.