<p> For theatre sound design, detailed planning of networked hardware and software affords a sound designer and the audio crew efficiency and flexibility during the process of rehearsals, designer quiet time, technical rehearsals, and performances. The need to property specify and use networked computers is demonstrated in the corresponding documentation within the portfolio of the sound design for The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. This play, which was produced by the UCSD Department of Theatre and Dance, opened in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre on November 29, 2015. The audio system and sound design process used current network technologies and practices to automate tasks, provide ease of access and control, and display information with better clarity and speed. The description of my experience as sound designer in this production of The Cherry Orchard, and the included portfolio documentation, is an example for theatre sound designers to take advantage of computer network technologies that are involved in the audio reinforcement system and sound design process of a theatrical production.</p>

The theory suggests that the masked chorus in classical Greek tragedy sang and danced and represented the ritualistic and political nature of Athenian society. No manual defining the employment of these elements in performance survives. Therefore, directors must construct their own visions of the ancient Greek elements for contemporary performance. This study surveys theory concerning the functions of choral conventions in their original context. Then, treatments of costume, mask, movement, music, and text in contemporary productions of the Oresteia follow. The Oresteia is used for comparison because the chorus is an important character in the action and the mythological issues are relevant to the present. Productions by directors Peter Hall, Ariane Mnouchkine, Peter Stein, and Garland Wright are examined for their interpretations of ritualistic aura, textual concerns, and visual appearance. The variant approaches explore the possibilities of shaping innovative and relevant choruses for contemporary productions of Athenian tragedy.

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This research presents an analysis of major dramatic works by the contemporary Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin. Between 1969 and 1976 Levin wrote ten full-length plays and directed five of them. Throughout this period of dramatic work Levin developed a unique dramatic style. This study follows Levin's progressive development in themes and structure during this period, through 1976 when the research on the dissertation began. Although he worked in a parallel manner with musical and non-musical plays, his works developed differently in each of these forms. His development in each form is described and analyzed in this study. / Since there are similarities between Levin's works and those of the Theatre of the Absurd and the Theatre of Bertolt Brecht, these similarities are explored, as are the specific ways in which Levin has mixed Epic motifs with motifs of the Theatre of the Absurd. / Levin's work is universal in nature. Nevertheless, he is rooted in Israeli culture and society and has succeeded in fusing the national with universal in his plays. This study attempts to demonstrate Levin's contributions to both Israeli drama and western theatre. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2370. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

This study focuses upon the history of the Asolo Theatre from its creation in Asolo, Italy, through its re-creation in Sarasota, Florida, and its subsequent history to the year 1967. Various conceptions for different uses of the Theatre, productions, administrative development and the legal and administrative structure of the Asolo State Theatre are explored. Technical Appendices supplement the text with copies of heretofore unpublished documents pertinent to this history. Annual financial statements, comparative annual statistics, photographs of productions, and lists of plays and personnel are also included in the appendices. / Specific highlights of this work include: (a) a detailed explanation of the metamorphosis of the Asolo Theatre into the State Theatre of Florida; (b) the history of the relationship between the Asolo Theatre and Florida State University; (c) an analysis of the unique system of theatre administration created to develop the Asolo State Theatre; and (d) a discussion of the Asolo Theatre's importance as one of the first university-related, regional theatres. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-12, Section: A, page: 3755. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of this study is to determine the possibility of using Eric Berne's system of transactional analysis to expand and clarify Stanislavski's system of acting. This expansion can form an effective tool for the analysis of character relationships. The value of using Berne's system to expand Stanislavski's is tested by using this combination of systems to analyze the character of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. The results of this analysis serve as a functional model of how these systems may be used together for analysis. This model should be applicable to other characters as well. / Both Stanislavski's and Berne's systems are capsulized in the first part of this study's design in order to identify their working structures. Second, divisional devices of character analysis used by the systems are applied to one episode of A Streetcar Named Desire so that their use together is tested and the results recorded in terms of their accessibility to actors. Next, the restructuring devices of both systems are applied to the same play to ascertain whether they work together and, if so, how an actor can use these devices for character analysis. The concluding section summarizes the results of the analysis, concludes whether or not Berne's system can be used to expand Stanislavski's role analysis, and suggests future research in Stanislavskian role analysis using therapeutic techniques. / To date no study has been published comparing the precepts of Stanislavski and Berne in order to suggest how precepts from transactional analysis can be used to clarify and expand relationships among characters from Stanislavski's system of acting. This study offers a systematic comparison, as well as a concrete demonstration of how the two systems can be used by an actor. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-04, Section: A, page: 0986. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

Following World War II, there was little alternative theatre activity in England. Then, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, new low-budget theatres and touring companies began to appear in London. Soon, an English counterpart to New York City's Off-Off Broadway movement was established. Since that time, "fringe" theatres have played an important role in the British theatre. / One aspect of this fringe theatre development was the appearance of lunchtime theatres in London. They staged their performances on the aprons of conventional playhouses, in restaurants, jazz clubs, and pubs. The most successful producers even established their own miniature playhouses. Many found support from the theatrical profession and the Arts Council of Great Britain. In the mid-1970s, however, their importance was eclipsed by the proliferation of other kinds of fringe theatre in the city. Nevertheless, between 1966 and 1975, lunchtime producers made notable contributions to the development of alternative theatre in London. / Chapter One provides an overview of alternative theatre activity in the modern British theatre, and it documents the founding of London's first lunchtime theatres in 1966. / Chapter Two describes the impact on the British theatre made by Off-Off Broadway theatre companies and the Counter Culture, or Underground. It also documents the establishment of two of London's first fringe theatres, the Arts Laboratory and the Ambiance Lunch Hour Theatre Club. / Chapter Three describes the growth in lunchtime theatre activity that began in 1970-1971, and the role played by lunchtime producers in establishing London's first pub theatres. / Chapter Four documents the founding of the Almost Free and the Soho Poly theatres. It also examines the lunchtime theatre "boom" of 1972 and the decline of lunchtime theatre activity that occurred in 1973-1975. / Chapter Five examines the involvement of the Arts Council of Great Britain in the history of lunchtime theatre, and its effect on lunchtime theatre practice between 1966 and 1976. / Chapter Six reviews the contributions of London's lunchtime theatres, and it provides an overview of lunchtime theatre developments in recent years. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-04, Section: A, page: 0987. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

An exploratory study of one kind of actor auditions at the 1982 Florida Theatre Conference's Fall Auditions. / The purpose of the study is to identify acting variables that have both a positive and a negative impact upon any possible audition score. / The format of the study is as follows. Chapter I provides an introduction to the substance and structure of the investigation. Chapter II surveys the major acting and directing texts and the three best known books on the audition process. Chapter III establishes the investigative procedures. Chapter IV presents the results of the various statistics that were used and presents a M.F.A. association study. Finally, Chapter V synthesizes all of the data to arrive at an estimate of the positive audition variables that were identified. / The study revealed that acting, long thought to be the most important element in an audition, takes on a much smaller percentage then expected. In fact, other variables such as stage presence, actor weight, years of acting experience, dress styles, age of the actor, and time of day make up 71% of the total audition score. This data would seem to indicate some major re-thinking on teaching actors needs to be done. Acting coaches should teach their actors to attack the audition as a unified whole from beginning to end of the complete audition. / Finally, the M.F.A. correlation study reveals that for statistical purposes no significant difference exists between the live audition performance and the video taped audition performance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-09, Section: A, page: 2696. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The topic of this study is the history of the Alliance Theatre Company of Atlanta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1969 as part of the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center, a multi-million dollar complex built in the memory of 122 arts patrons who were killed in a 1962 plane crash in Paris, France. The Center was built by the Atlanta Arts Alliance with private contributions, much of which came from local millionaire and Coca-Cola chairman Robert W. Woodruff. At the time, members of the Arts Alliance were the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta College of Art, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In 1968, the Center leased its theatre space to a local professional company, Atlanta Municipal Theater, which mounted a lavish production of John Dryden's King Arthur to celebrate the Center's opening in October of that year. Several months later, the Atlanta Municipal Theater went bankrupt, and the Arts Alliance founded its own theatre, the Alliance Resident Theatre, in early 1969; in 1970, the ART was renamed the Alliance Theatre Company. In 1982, the Center renamed itself the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center. / After an opening chapter which gives the background of the Arts Center and an overview of the Alliance Theatre Company, subsequent chapters address specific topics: the Board of Directors; the Management; the Artistic Directors; the Alliance Theatre School and other programs; and a final chapter on recent developments and the celebration of the theatre's twenty-fifth anniversary season, 1993-1994. / In addition to numerous local newspaper reports and periodical articles, many current and former theatre company staffers and board members were interviewed and their comments are included throughout the study. A partial list includes: Fred Chappell, actor, from 1970, and later artistic director from 1976 to 1985; Edith Love, managing director since 1985; and Betty Blondeau-Russell, development director since 1980. / In spite of the theatre's twenty-five year history, it has been either overlooked or only lightly mentioned in American theatre history studies, and this study seeks to fill that gap. Appendices include a listing of the theatre's seasons from 1968 to 1994, and a chronology of events from the same period. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-12, Section: A, page: 4308. / Major Professor: John A. Degen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

The character of Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello is most often portrayed as a naïve, passive, all-trusting, all-loving young woman. Not only is this portrayal exceptionally flat, it also reinforces the naturalized gender norms of women in Western society. Feminist theatre artists are working to disrupt these gender norms inherent in canonical works such as Othello. This thesis explores how feminist artists and scholars call into question the traditional portrayal of Desdemona in Othello as well as the representation of women in the canon. This thesis examines the subversive nature of productions of Othello by the Women's Repertory Theatre and the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company staged with all-female casts, looking particularly at how the use of drag challenges the play's gendered representations. In addition, this thesis analyzes how two feminist revisions of Othello, Ann-Marie MacDonald's Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) and Paula Vogel's Desdemona: a play about a handkerchief, explore Desdemona's nature and challenge the strict authority of traditional interpretations of this canonical text. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Theatre in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2003. / Date of Defense: March 31, 2003. / Feminism, Othello, William Shakespeare, Theatre / Includes bibliographical references. / Carrie Sandahl, Professor Directing Thesis; Anita Gonzalez, Committee Member; Laura Edmondson, Committee Member.