Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2008. / Title from title screen (viewed January 21, 2009) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Arts, Dept. of Performing Studies. Degree awarded 2008; thesis submitted 2007. Includes bibliography. Also available in print format.

<p> Acting students enrolled in theatre training programs often receive excellent instruction in voice, movement, and acting techniques respectively; however, there are few opportunities, in most of these programs, to incorporate these skills into <i>one</i> integrated class prior to graduation. This Project Report proposes the creation, development, and implementation of such a Capstone Integration Course. The curriculum of this proposed course relies on the author&rsquo;s cumulative experience of several decades in the acting profession, primarily the following four pillars: (1) early training at the Juilliard School of Drama, (2) experiences teaching undergraduates in the California State University system, (3) a lifetime of study in the art of acting in professional conservatories and under master teachers, and (4) private coaching of professional actors in the field of theatre and film. This report claims that the proposed course fulfills a vital need in the education of student-actors, by preparing them for sustained and successful careers as professional actors.</p><p>

<p> The MFA Acting and Performance Pedagogy program at CSULB has inspired me to investigate non-psychological based acting techniques. These newfound techniques, coupled with my classical singing background, led me to discover how to perform with joy and ease. Sanford Meisner acting technique exercises effectively redirected my attention away from myself and onto my scene partner in singing and acting. In performance and teaching, I am able to utilize the Meisner technique to uncover what inhibits the actor&rsquo;s attention and subsequently redirect their focus to the present moment. Declan Donnellan&rsquo;s <i> The Actor and the Target</i> and Timothy Gallwey&rsquo;s <i>The Inner Game of Tennis</i>, provide strategies to free the actor from inhibiting factors that prevent him/her from behaving naturally under imaginary circumstances. The use of all these concepts both in practice and performance allows actors to redirect their attention onto the imaginary circumstances and discover true freedom and joy in performance.</p><p>

<p> Every civilization on the planet has some form of theatre. Musical theatre is primarily an American art form. It can be enjoyed by everyone. Enjoyment of any art form is increased by knowledge of and participation in the field and amateur productions allow non-professionals to take part in this collaborative activity. All ages and abilities can participate at various levels, from the smallest child to the wheelchair bound adult. It is my firm belief that taking part in a community theatre production is a creative and worthwhile way to express oneself, foster friendships, develop talents, and perpetuate this uniquely American art form. </p><p> I researched methods of adapting the musical theatre rehearsal process for different groups of amateurs. Among these groups I focused on the needs of elderly persons, persons with mobility impairment, and persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder. </p><p> It is my wish to best adapt traditional rehearsal techniques to suit these and other groups. By seeking out the basic problems for working with specialized groups and by finding workable solutions for each, we will thereby better enable ourselves to work with all of them. </p><p> I outlined the general rehearsal process and made practical suggestions for working with and encouraging participation by these groups. In producing their best work, the participants foster a sense of community and strengthen their areas of weakness.</p><p>

<p> Non-profit theater companies around the United States struggle to attract younger audience members, which becomes a bigger problem with each passing year as their current consumer base is dying from old age. This paper discusses using nostalgia as a method of attracting the millennial generation to attend the theater. The paper first analyzes the middle class millennial and the reasons that they choose to not attend the theater. The paper continues by defining nostalgia, its history, and its effects on the individual and on consumer behavior. The paper lists examples in other forms of entertainment that compete with theater and in retail that have used strategies with nostalgia that have proven to be successful with the millennial generation. The paper ends by observing how nostalgia has been successful in theater and provides tactics and strategies for theater companies as possible solutions to the lack of younger audience members.</p><p>

In this dissertation, "Transgressing Space and Subverting Hierarchies: A Comparative Analysis of Street Theater Groups in Sri Lanka, India, and the United States," I explore how street theater artists in three different national contexts make innovative use of space, performance traditions, language, and audience in order to question economic, political, and cultural power structures. My study involves a comparative analysis of the work of The Wayside and Open Theater in Sri Lanka, People's Theater Forum (Janam) in India, and Bread and Puppet Theater in the United States. I study the ways in which these groups appropriate spaces and, through their performances, transform them into transgressive sites where existing power hierarchies are questioned and subverted. I examine their use of hybridized forms of aesthetics - a combination of traditional formal performance methods and western performance traditions - as well as language to create a dialogic relationship with diverse audiences. While the study of Sri Lankan and Indian street theater groups interrogates the dynamics of space as it manifests itself in postcolonial contexts, my analysis of Bread and Puppet Theater provides material for comparison and contrast by examining the workings of space and power in a "first world" context. My investigation is informed by Ngugi wa Thiong'o's and Safdar Hashmi's work on space, performance, and power as well as theories of national culture and identity elaborated by Frantz Fanon and Homi Bhabha. I will likewise refer to Jacques Derrida's arguments about language and play and André Lefevere's ideas concerning translation and rewriting in order to examine the language used in the plays. While prior studies of street theater focus primarily on its status as a political or cultural event, I propose to engage in an in depth analysis of the performance texts - both written and visual - and examine the nuances in language and the particular performance techniques used by the groups in specific locations.

<p> In Taiwan&rsquo;s experimental theatre, the &ldquo;Grotowski phenomenon&rdquo; is too prominent to be ignored. The &ldquo;Grotowski method,&rdquo; as it is called in Taiwan, has nurtured a generation of experimental theatre workers ever since the mid-1980s. In this dissertation I will investigate the entire picture of how the Grotowski-to-Taiwan transmission began. This investigation begins with the American encounter between the Polish exile and two Taiwanese overseas students in the Objective Drama Program at U.C. Irvine in 1985 &ndash; and what subsequently developed from that encounter in the context of Taiwan&rsquo;s Little Theatre Movement and New Age Movement. Their encounter is not simply a manifestation of Western cultural hegemony. Grotowski&rsquo;s physical training fills a cultural need in Taiwan, a place in which the grand narrative of the Great China ideology was dissolving and liberation of both language and body was beginning in earnest. Taiwan&rsquo;s liberal religious and spiritual environment gave Grotowski&rsquo;s post-theatrical work, particularly the &ldquo;inner aspect&rdquo; of his work, a promised land full of fertile ground. And it was upon this fertile ground that the seeds of Grotowski&rsquo;s ideas fell, with time took root, grew vigorously and finally bloomed in a way that Grotowski could never have imagined.</p>

<p> This thesis, presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration/Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Management, investigates the business models used by performing arts festivals known as "fringe festivals." In the United States, there are three basic fringe festival models: the open access or Edinburgh model, the limited access model, and the adjudicated model. Interviews with artists who participated in fringes as producers reveal that the model impacts the participant experience less than the degree of scaffolding the fringe offers and the degree to which the fringe constrains producing choices. This thesis suggests a fringe festival framework, classifying fringes by degree of scaffolding and constraint, which can be used by producers to identify festival settings that will be the best fit for their needs. The framework can also be used by fringe festival organizers as a tool for self-reflection and festival assessment.</p>

<p> There are currently ten available works by Antonino Pasculli (1842-1924) for solo oboe or English horn and accompaniment inspired by themes from nineteenth-century operas by Bellini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, and Verdi. These pieces are so virtuosic that Pasculli has been dubbed the &ldquo;Paganini of the Oboe.&rdquo; The technical demands can be so high that performers can neglect to approach artistic and scholarly interpretation of his lyrical passages. Some editions of his music list the referenced act and scene number from the original source. No existing editions include complete text from the original vocal excerpts or the context from the plots of each respective opera. This volume contains the complete text of the vocal excerpts Pasculli uses, insights from the dramatic plot context, and advice to performers on how to apply such information to an instrumental performance.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 317-328). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.