Erwin, Tennessee is a small town located just outside of Johnson City. The town is beautiful and the people are kind, but it lacks one thing - a community theatre. In an effort to increase student interest in the local high school drama department, allow community members of all ages a chance to perform, and to provide entertainment to the small town, I have worked to form a community theatre named Second Story. Founding a nonprofit community theatre comes with many challenges. In this thesis I will walk through my efforts and what all went into this labor of love. I will speak on how I have worked alongside a few other community members to found this community theatre. To found a community theatre one must learn about nonprofit organizations and how to achieve that status, legality that goes along with hosting an event, financial responsibilities, and gauging and intriguing community interest. The work to found Second Story began in 2018 and in August of 2021 the community theatre produced its first production.

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In the unique world of a play, dramaturgy provides the essential multi-dimensional foundation for comprehensive exploration. As the identity of dramaturgy is complex and continues to evolve, the artistic value discovered through practice positively contributes to the theatrical experience for both artists and audience members. This substantial element is mostly absent from theatrical experiences for youth, usually making a meaningful appearance in professional and collegiate theatre productions. To promote the importance of dramaturgy, I attempt to construct and explore a learning opportunity at Long Lake Camp for the Arts, a summer performing arts camp for youth artists and performers. This theoretical framework will provide the foundation for possibly implementing a dramaturgical experience to enrich the theatre program in the near future. I will consider the following questions: How do you introduce dramaturgy and make it accessible to young artists? What will serve as foundational theories in practice? What methodologies will prove most effective? To build a fundamental pathway into the world of dramaturgy at Long Lake Camp for the Arts, I will investigate the emergence and history of dramaturgy through the works of Aristotle and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and uncover its evolution and practice through the contributions of Elinor Fuchs and other contemporary artists and scholars. I look to utilize Inquiry-Based Learning methods to empower youth with agency to analyze the scope and practice of modern dramaturgy. As I engage with Inquiry-Based Learning methods, I will ask: What are the intersections of Inquiry-Based Learning and dramaturgy? What essential questions will prove most effective? This thesis will generate explorative, dramaturgical and educational framework through the lenses of scholar, artist, and educator. It is my intent that such substructure will provide a contemporary experience for educating young artists about dramaturgy, thus inspiring arts organizations, such as Long Lake Camp for the Arts, to expand their educational programming for youth.

Audiences relay morbid support towards the enjoyment of horrific entertainment. Such examples are the success and long-standing allure spectators hold towards musicals such as Phantom of the Opera, Spring Awakening, Heathers, and more. These are shows that include themes of death, darkness, and tragedy which are presented. Using Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Motivation, The Jungian Archetype of Shadow, and Catharsis I will show how audiences are supportive of protagonists who portray actions resulting in death, darkness, and murder despite the societal pressure to find such subject matter as offensive, vile, repugnant, or obscene. By referencing the characters found in Sweeney Todd, Little Shop of Horrors, and A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder and through deep analysis and study of these psychological ideas, I plan to show how spectators ultimately fulfill their own Maslownian and Shadowesque desires from witnessing such instances of horrific entertainment resulting in catharsis.

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Scholastic texts on theater move from the Greeks and Romans to the theater of Shakespeare's time with little or no acknowledgment of the Middle Ages. From the late thirteenth century until the reformation an active community theater known as the mystery plays existed throughout much of Europe. The York Corpus Christi Cycle was part of that movement. The play was produced by the guilds of York under the supervision of the chamber of commerce with the Church monitoring the theology and morals. Performed yearly on the Feast Day of Corpus Christi, the subject of the play was the salvation of man from the creation through the last judgment. This thesis examines in depth the language and characters of four pageants of the forty-eight pageants of the York Cycle Play and draws connections to the writings and teachings of Bishop Thoresby. While many scholars understand the Cycle Play as a municipal production, this thesis argues that the plays were in fact created by the Church as a means to bring their teachings to the Medieval masses.

Education has become a revolutionary field in which constant change and diversification of students in the classroom has sought for much differentiation in lessons and instructions. One of the popular forms for differentiation is that of drama or theatre techniques. Theatre has been used in many forms for fostering education. One of the elements from ESL teacher's experience is using theatre in the English as a Second Language classroom or EL class to aid students in learning English. The study focused on the influence theatre arts components have on students learning English as a second language. I proposed to present a detailed look at the influence of taking a theatre course for the EL students, as well as, using Theatre in the Language Arts classroom. I intended to incorporate observations and evaluations throughout the process to measure the level of English. Data from the evaluations was used for the analyzing of improvement or lack thereof English.

This thesis examines the portrayal of multiple roles in a production of Camelot, written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Performance and content analysis identifies and explores the difficulties and challenges in portraying multiple roles in this production, including the understudying of the leading role of Guenevere. A detailed historical analysis provides background into origin of the Arthurian legend and an examination of its historical development. A social analysis provides information on the role of women in medieval society with a discussion of the customs and laws that applied to them. Furthermore, a structural analysis of the script examines the plot and play structure. In addition, in individual sections is formal scene-by-scene analysis of the role of Nimue, Lady Anne, and Guenevere. A comprehensive rehearsal and performance journal also addresses the rehearsal and script development process and challenges faced as well as discoveries, adjustments, and choices made in performance from April 14 to May 30, 2004 at the Orlando Broadway Dinner Theatre. Specific entries include discussion of the challenges of playing minor roles while understudying the role of Guenevere, eventually played in one performance. Belinda Boyd and Christopher Niess, my thesis committee, have each provided a performance analysis of my portrayal of Nimue and Lady Anne. J.J. Ruscella, another committee member, has provided a performance analysis of my performance as Guenevere.

Anita Endsley will portray the role of Sister Mary Hubert in the musical Nunsense at Seaside Music Theatre in Daytona Beach, Florida from October 28 through November 14, 2005. This parody of convent life in crisis written by Dan Goggin provides a breadth of material for analysis of the genre as well as character analysis. Dissecting the comedy will be the foundation for characteer development. The popularity of this musical among Catholic and non-Catholic audiences have created a market that inspired the writer to extend this theme through five sequels. The commercial success of these musicals suggest a strong connection between the demands of the Catholic doctrine and the foundation for comic relief. A vast amount of research can be incorporated to assist in the analysis of comedy written into Nunsense.