This written portion of my thesis chronicles my experience as director and producer of Visionary Futures: Science Fiction Theatre for Social Justice Movements, in collaboration with playwrights, activists, actors, designers, and a dramaturg. In this thesis, I explore the process of creating a meaningful thesis project during the Covid-19 pandemic. I discuss the idea of visionary fiction as created by adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha and how to create theatre within that genre. This thesis chronicles the development and production of three new plays of visionary fiction that wrestle with contemporary social issues, all designed for digital performance. I share my process pairing each writer with an activist to create work that envisioned more just worlds while also being responsive to the current moment. I explore the opportunities and challenges of reimagining the generative writing process, making theatre within a digital medium, and being creative during a global pandemic. This thesis also includes the full text of each play and links to the recordings of the digital productions.

Guiding Question: What characteristics contribute to a successful commission of a new play for young audiences? Defining various types of commissions taking place in the field of theatre can help to set a precedent for defining commissioning processes and goals within the field of theatre for young audiences. Each field has their own specific needs, and I am interested in how the details of various commissioning processes can help to articulate some of the vital aspects of this work. This thesis looks at the broad process of commissioning a new play for young audiences through the study of one specific commission process. While the word 'successful' remains relative and depends greatly on who and what is defining any given notion of success, for this study, I define a successful production and script as one that pushes the field forward in at least one way, invokes strong audience responses, and involves artists who care about the integrity and value of theatre for young audiences. This study analyzes the commissioning process for Turning Ten by The Potomac Playhouse in the Theatre for Young Audiences program, through detailed interviews, journal observations reports, and research on theatrical commissioning. As I closely observed this commissioning process, I explored the following questions: how does Turning Ten fit into a 'type of commission' as referenced earlier in the thesis, how does Turning Ten fit my preconceived notion of a 'successful' commission?; how do the responses of the audience and production team members contribute to a successful commission? Throughout my research, my ideas of commissioning were broadened by the eagerness of the artists involved to bring what they believed to be a valid story to the stage and make it as unique and influential as possible. Turning Ten involves bringing a specific community and culture to life on stage and the team involved in making this happen proved that commissioning a script can be a valuable and worthwhile task in order to put something you feel passionate about in front of a live audience. I realized that the success of a particular project deals first with the script and the writing that is put on the table; then, the commission involves the ability of the creative team to shift and change with various timeframes and the willingness to work with the different personalities involved. All of these factors proved successful with this particular commission and a strong way to approach my research about this topic.

This study, in its exploration of the attached play scripts and their method of development, evaluates the forms, strategies, and methods of an organised model of formalised playwriting. Through the examination, reflection and reaction to a perceived crisis in playwriting in the Australian theatre sector, the notion of Industrial Playwriting is arrived at: a practice whereby plays are designed and constructed, and where the process of writing becomes central to the efficient creation of new work and the improvement of the writer’s skill and knowledge base. Using a practice-led methodology and action research the study examines a system of play construction appropriate to and addressing the challenges of the contemporary Australian theatre sector. Specifically, using the action research methodology known as design-based research a conceptual framework was constructed to form the basis of the notion of Industrial Playwriting. From this two plays were constructed using a case study method and the process recorded and used to create a practical, step-by-step system of Industrial Playwriting. In the creative practice of manufacturing a single authored play, and then a group-devised play, Industrial Playwriting was tested and found to also offer a valid alternative approach to playwriting in the training of new and even emerging playwrights. Finally, it offered insight into how Industrial Playwriting could be used to greatly facilitate theatre companies’ ongoing need to have access to new writers and new Australian works, and how it might form the basis of a cost effective writer development model. This study of the methods of formalised writing as a means to confront some of the challenges of the Australian theatre sector, the practice of playwriting and the history associated with it, makes an original and important contribution to contemporary playwriting practice.

‘ratio, is a new play that was conceived as a collaborative experiment to investigate the possibility of a playwright and designer co-authoring a script through their preferred mediums; written text and visual art. The final script document consists of both a written text and visual narrative text, asking the reader to create and interpret the story through both mediums. / text

U.S. Theatre is often noted for its commitment to new play development. Since Eugene O’Neill, America has fostered a tradition of celebrating emerging playwrights and their bold, edgy new works through countless development programs such as festivals, new play readings, grant programs, workshops, and world premieres. Although in recent years new-play development has seen a steady decline in funding (Levitow 2), it remains a cornerstone of American identity and an essential medium for pushing boundaries in theatre, both culturally and artistically. New-play development is indispensable for keeping theatre relevant in our everchanging culture. For my thesis, I explore the process of developing a new play from an actor’s perspective. The role of the director, dramaturg and producer of a new play is often discussed; however the importance of the actor throughout the development process is sometimes overlooked. There are many configurations of artistic teams assembled to develop a new play; therefore, I do not suggest there is one type of team that is best or one type of role for the actor to play within the team. My aim was to collaborate with the playwright, director and fellow actors to discover what is required of an actor in all phases of new play development. I applied the principles learned to my own work in the World Premiere of The Exit Interview by William Missouri Downs at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre in Partnership with The University of Central Florida. As I navigated my way through the artistic process of developing a new work, I discovered some ‘best practices’, which I employed throughout the rehearsal and performance iii process to further my own skills. I will discuss the development process I experienced, as objectively as possible, outlining the key best practices for an actor working in a collaborative team to develop a new play.

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