Is it possible for a playwright to authentically capture the disabled experience without it becoming privy to stereotypes or utilized as a catalyst for the plot? The thesis aims to challenge the prevalent notion that making the disability intrinsic to a theatrical plot is essential for authentic representation, and instead asserts that authentic portrayal of the disabled experience can exist independently of making the disability a central plot device. To support this claim, In Chapter One, I engage with relevant work in the field of playwriting and narrative media studies, such as the workshop "Inaccessible: Writing Plays with Characters who are Differently Abled" led by Jef Peterson. In Chapter Two, I analyze a range of contemporary American and English scripts from the 21st century featuring characters with disabilities, including Simon Stephen's A Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-Time. My research converges with creative practice in Chapter Three, with an autoethnographic analysis of my own experience writing an original, full length script entitled When it Rains, which centers on a character living with a disability. In exploring multiple scripts, engaging with academic texts, and reflecting on my own creative process, my research thereby advocates for a more diverse and inclusive portrayal of disability in theatrical narratives.

In youth theatre spaces, it is up to the facilitators to discover and create new ways to include more students, especially those who previously didn't have a seat at the table. Making rehearsal spaces inclusive and accessible to all starts by establishing inclusion as an innate practice integrated into every step of the process. This thesis focuses on creating inclusive and accessible rehearsal spaces outside of the traditional classroom for young people ages 8-22, specifically in community theatre and collegiate spaces. The director's role is explored in two projects: Home of the Brave, a Theatre for Young Audiences production performed by college students, and Alice in Wonderland, a youth community theatre production. In examining each project, I apply disability, educational, and inclusion theories to my work. Through the process of examining theory and my own practice in theatrical spaces, I advocate for embedding inclusive practices from the start of a rehearsal process and articulate effective strategies for creating inclusive and accessible rehearsal rooms.

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The use of personal testimony in theatre is a central component to the practice of Verbatim Theatre. Verbatim Theatre is a form of documentary theatre and is enjoying an increased popularity on world stages in recent years. The last decade, in particular, has seen both established and emerging playwrights incorporating the testimony of others into their scripts. This has led to various concerns and questions pertaining to the practical and moral implications of the work particularly surrounding issues of authorship, authenticity, truth, aesthetics, theatricality and ethics. This study is a practice-led enquiry. A central component to the study is the writing and performance of three plays in order to arrive at a better understanding of these challenges. Three original plays, Walking Away, Under Pressure and Aquéro are presented in a series of case studies accompanied by a critical and reflexive analysis on the practice of writing and staging each play. This examination investigates both the creation of these plays – from interview to writing – and their performance – from the perspective of the playwright and to a lesser extent the actor, in addition to contextualising the ethical and moral ramifications involved in this type of practice. The Introduction explores a few of the general problems and challenges around the practice of staging testimony, outlines the nature of the research project and is followed by a discussion on practice-as-research and my particular research methodology and ethic. The dissertation is then divided into three parts. Chapter One begins with an overview of the documentary form and considers developments in the form that have facilitated the staging of testimony. The chapter then considers the terms Verbatim Theatre and Theatre of Testimony, arguing for a distinction to be made between the two terms and why Theatre of Testimony is the term most suited to my practice. It contends with an examination of the epistemology of testimony that new knowledge can be generated by attending to and nurturing the narrative essence of testimony. This chapter also examines the significance of the site of production of the testimonies and the extent to which this impacts on the dramaturgical choices made by the playwright. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the main questions, problems and challenges that have been identified by theatre practitioners, scholars and critics regarding the use of testimony in theatre. Part Two comprises of Chapters Two, Three and Four, which discuss the case studies. Each chapter provides a context for the research project, a script of the play, a DVD of a performance of the play and critical and reflexive commentary on the practice of writing and staging the play. The final section, Part Three, presents concluding thoughts on the research outcomes and considers the value and potential efficacy of employing ‘reportage’ as a legitimate dramaturgical choice when staging personal testimonies. Accompanying this thesis are three DVDs which include recordings of each script in performance.

Following the publication of Trendall’s Phlyax Vases, the history of comedic theatre in Magna Graecia received a great amount of scholarly attention, culminating in such important works as Taplin’s Comic Angels, Green’s Theatre in Ancient Greek Society and most recently Bosher’s dissertation, Theater on the Periphery. This work is, in many ways, a supplement to their collective research, and assesses the literary and material evidence for the development of comedy in the Apulian city of Tarentum. The analysis of textual evidence will begin by investigating Tarentine interactions with Attic theatre in the beginning of the fourth century and leading to the influence of its comic tradition on the early stages of Republican Rome through the works of Rhinthon and Livius Andronicus. An assessment of the Roman historiographical treatment of Greek theatrical influence and the vibrant Bacchic cult practices observed in the festivals of Tarentum will round out discussion of literary and textual evidence A general overview of fourth century comedic iconography production will begin the section on material culture. In this context, some notable individual pieces adduced by Taplin and Green will be addressed before other iconographpic material from Tarentine coinage and other sources will be presented. The conclusion from this body of evidence affirms a vibrant and independent tradition of comedic theatre in Tarentum that was at once amalgamative through its interactions with the festivals of the Hellenistic period and conceptually autochthonic for the Tarentines themselves. / text

This study examines traditional and alternative citizenship models such as legal, flexible, global and cultural citizenship. These types of citizenship lay the foundation for the understanding of 'liminal citizenship.' This study identifies international students as liminal citizens and gauges the role of theatre in encouraging them to be civically engaged by creating a model for using applied theatre to 1) make international students aware of the possibilities of inclusion within their host community; and 2) empower them to become active members in it. / text

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