This thesis provides a sequel to studies relating to the influence of Senecan drama in sixteenth and seventeenth-century France, and although charting a final stage in the history of Seneca's importance as a literary source, strives to prove that the eighteenth century still offers substantial material for discussion. The influence which the Roman tragedies exerted during this period is assessed firstly by means of reference to contemporary editions and translations of the dramas, educational treatises, and works of criticism on the ancient and modem theatre, which allow us to judge how widespread knowledge of Seneca's work was, and secondly by detailed analysis of eighteenth-century tragedies based on Senecan themes. Evidence shows that critical reaction to the plays as a whole was very frequently unfavourable, but this did not prevent French dramatists appropriating any elements suited to their particular needs. The nature of these borrowings can best be understood by being discussed in relation to the general development of French tragic drama during this period, and must also be weighed against the considerable interest which was shown in the Greek tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, at this time. Tragic dramatists of the eighteenth century inherited the neo-classical tradition established in the preceding century, but also reacted against its restrictions and sought to explore new territory. There was a manifest desire to increase the emotional and visual impact of tragedy, and this atmosphere was more conducive to a real appreciation of the strong themes which Seneca offers than the earlier century had been. Crebillon's exploitation of the horrific elements of the Thyestes in Atree et Thyeste is one example of the new way in which the tragedies could be used, and the Latin writer's vivid descriptions of supernatural or spectacular phenomena, as well as the originality of some of his scenes, also appealed to other dramatists (and operatic librettists) of the period.

In the 1950's and the 1960's in France there was a movement to bring theatre and culture to working class people. Roger Planchon started his work as a part of this movement. He founded his troupe in Lyons in the early fifties, distinguishing himself not only by the vitality and originality of his productions, but also by his insistence on creating a permanent fixed provincial theatre. In 1957, his company took over the municipal theatre of Villeurbanne, a working class suburb of Lyons. They made every effort to acquaint the local population with their theatre by creating contacts with various associations. Gradually they built up a considerable following. Planchon's work was from the first strongly Brechtian in orientation. He brought out the historical significance of both classical and modern plays, presenting them from a Marxist stand point. Eventually his work earned him widespread recognition as a leading contemporary director. In 1962 he wrote his first play, La Remise, a portrait of his peasant ancestors in the Ardeche. Planchon has tended over the years to write plays and to put on productions which are less and less interpretative, which ask questions but provide no answers. After the events of May 1968, Planchon and many other directors of theatres populaires admitted that only a minute fraction of their new public was made up of working class people; their methods had failed. In 1972 the government made Planchon's theatre in Villeurbanne the new Theatres National Populaire, and appointed him and his young colleague Patrice Chereau as the artistic directors. Planchon's TNP has made a policy of touring French cities. Using the contacts already established by each local theatre group, it had touched a vast and truly national audience. It is very doubtful, however, that it will ever reach a really popular public.

A fresh impetus was given to the development of provincial theatre in France immediately after the Second World War by the establishment of five subsidised Centres Dramatiques Nationaux in Colmar, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, Rennes, and Aix-en-Provence. Largely influenced by the proposals of the pre-war Cartel group of theatre directors for decentralising and democratising French theatre, the directors of these new Centres set about capturing audiences hitherto unfamiliar with the theatre in the culturally barren provinces. During the nineteen-fifties, more experimental forms of theatre, frequently based on the recently-experienced Brechtian epic drama, were gradually introduced into the otherwise traditional repertoires of the new companies. With the creation of a Ministere des Affaires Culturelles under the Fifth Republic in 1958, a further expansion of the decentralisation programme was planned. In the following decade, four new Centres Dramatiques, eleven Troupes Permanentes, and nine Maisons de la Culture were set up, thus bringing the majority of the French population within reach of some form of theatrical activity for the first time. A corresponding increase in the output of plays by a new generation of young dramatists led to a spate of works dealing predominantly with socio-political themes. Typical of this new generation is Gabriel Cousin, whose career as a dramatist began with an intense love of sport and an interest in the art of movement. Like many of his contemporaries, Cousin became inspired by both the theoretical writings and the practical theatre of Artaud, Copeau, and Brecht. His own plays---on such themes as racism, Third World famine, the nuclear threat, and the alienation of Man by his work---show him to be a key figure among the group of social dramatists who sought to arouse in their audiences a 'prise de conscience' of contemporary social ills. Cousin's theatre is thus characteristic of much of the work produced in the new subsidised provincial theatres of France in the post-war era.

Throughout her time as a member of the famed Provincetown Players, for which she penned three successful plays, playwright Djuna Barnes simultaneously wrote twelve short closet dramas, none of which saw the light of the stage. Despite the fact that they were officially republished in the 1995 anthology At the Roots of The Stars: The Short Plays, edited by Douglass Messerli, scholarly criticism on these fascinatingly weird plays is all but non-existent. With this gap in mind, in this thesis I analyze two of these short closet dramas: A Passion Play (1918), published in Others magazine, and Madame Collects Herself (1918), published in Parisienne. These two plays, read in conversation with the rest of Barnes’s work throughout the 1910s, crystalize the intersecting issues of gender, sexuality, and religion, which also have significant connections to the rest of Barnes’s canon. In this thesis, I address the following questions: How do these plays fit into the Barnes canon? What might their texts reveal as standalone works of closet drama? What might they reveal about the work and lives of women playwrights in the United States in the early 20th century? While there are many ways in which to approach these texts, I have specifically chosen the dual methodologies of Jill Dolan and Nick Salvato. Utilizing Jill Dolan’s latest book Wendy Wasserstein, a critical biography of the highly acclaimed second-wave feminist playwright, and Nick Salvato’s Uncloseting Drama: American Modernism and Queer Performance, I will combine two seemingly disparate methodological processes to form an analysis of these plays for the first time. Following the introductory chapter, chapter two will explore A Passion Play, a short drama that looks into the final night of sexual encounters between two prostitutes and the other two men hung on crosses alongside Jesus Christ during the Passion. In this chapter, I explore Barnes’s personal articulation of the binary (or lack thereof) of good and evil. Chapter three explores Madame Collects Herself, a gruesome, five-page comedy that takes place in a hair salon. I argue that Madame Collects Herself builds on the religious, sexual, and feminist themes found in A Passion Play, suggesting that Barnes’s closet dramas both serve as early examples of Barnes’s creative work and operate as intriguing examples of her interest in de-marginalizing those who were often seen as other. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Theatre in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Summer Semester 2018. / May 7, 2018. / 20th Century Drama, American Theatre History, Closet Drama, Djuna Barnes, Provincetown Players / Includes bibliographical references. / Elizabeth A. Osborne, Professor Directing Thesis; Mary Karen Dahl, Committee Member; Patrick McKelvey, Committee Member.

Throughout her time as a member of the famed Provincetown Players, for which she penned three successful plays, playwright Djuna Barnes simultaneously wrote twelve short closet dramas, none of which saw the light of the stage. Despite the fact that they were officially republished in the 1995 anthology At the Roots of The Stars: The Short Plays, edited by Douglass Messerli, scholarly criticism on these fascinatingly weird plays is all but non-existent. With this gap in mind, in this thesis I analyze two of these short closet dramas: A Passion Play (1918), published in Others magazine, and Madame Collects Herself (1918), published in Parisienne. These two plays, read in conversation with the rest of Barnes’s work throughout the 1910s, crystalize the intersecting issues of gender, sexuality, and religion, which also have significant connections to the rest of Barnes’s canon. In this thesis, I address the following questions: How do these plays fit into the Barnes canon? What might their texts reveal as standalone works of closet drama? What might they reveal about the work and lives of women playwrights in the United States in the early 20th century? While there are many ways in which to approach these texts, I have specifically chosen the dual methodologies of Jill Dolan and Nick Salvato. Utilizing Jill Dolan’s latest book Wendy Wasserstein, a critical biography of the highly acclaimed second-wave feminist playwright, and Nick Salvato’s Uncloseting Drama: American Modernism and Queer Performance, I will combine two seemingly disparate methodological processes to form an analysis of these plays for the first time. Following the introductory chapter, chapter two will explore A Passion Play, a short drama that looks into the final night of sexual encounters between two prostitutes and the other two men hung on crosses alongside Jesus Christ during the Passion. In this chapter, I explore Barnes’s personal articulation of the binary (or lack thereof) of good and evil. Chapter three explores Madame Collects Herself, a gruesome, five-page comedy that takes place in a hair salon. I argue that Madame Collects Herself builds on the religious, sexual, and feminist themes found in A Passion Play, suggesting that Barnes’s closet dramas both serve as early examples of Barnes’s creative work and operate as intriguing examples of her interest in de-marginalizing those who were often seen as other. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Theatre in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Summer Semester 2018. / May 7, 2018. / 20th Century Drama, American Theatre History, Closet Drama, Djuna Barnes, Provincetown Players / Includes bibliographical references. / Elizabeth A. Osborne, Professor Directing Thesis; Mary Karen Dahl, Committee Member; Patrick McKelvey, Committee Member.

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<p> The actor's journey of self to character from the dressing room to the stage will be analyzed by way of Constantine Stanislavsky's Event Analysis and the Process of Evaluation, using Richard Schechner's Liminal Space as the foundation. Stanislavsky breaks down the mechanics of what happens to an actor as they go from one event to the next, and Dr. Schechner invites the actor's infinite imagination to live truthfully in the middle of that transition.</p><p> This process consists of constant practice, and the ability to dream. By crossing a threshold from one event to the next and by examining the space in between events, the actor learns the mechanics, the equations, and then, most importantly, to "un- think" them.</p>

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