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With this thesis I will explore the many challenges that confront a leader on a creative project, the difficulties that prevent open communication, and the discoveries that I will use to serve myself on future projects. Through diligent notes during the multiple months that Cat on a Hot Tin Roof took to produce, I was able to re-create what my experience was and how it benefitted me moving forward. This thesis will document the entire process from play selection, through the final product including the response from the audience. Through this document I will try and highlight, how my own skills were tested, expanded, and seasoned throughout the process. In addition to the study of my own learning, this thesis will highlight the valuable advice that I received from instructors, as well as documenting the implementation of said advice in this university setting. In addition to looking at myself, I also will identify some things that I will be on the lookout for in future creative ventures, both from fellow collaborators, and from institutions. Eventually when this process was in the books, I looked back on the experience fondly, and with a sense of pride. I was able to reflect in the post-mortem phase of the production, and identify room for growth, but above and beyond that identify where growth had occurred during the work, not only in this process, but also in my three-year journey at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

In February 2024 Sewanee Theatre and Dance produced Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. This thesis documents the role of the technical director from pre-production through closing. 3D Printing technology was used for this production to create scenery that evoked the imagery of 1940s New Orleans. This thesis also discusses the roles of a technical director and the challenges they face in the industry. A portion of this project was done remotely which provides a unique perspective of the role of a Technical Director.

It is the purpose of this paper to examine the major plays of Tennessee Williams in an effort to formulate the key concepts which appear in the work of a modern successful dramatist who is sensitive to the tragedy of man and to discover Williams' beliefs in regard to man, his need, and the tragedy that results if he does not find the fulfillment of his nature.

Riparian forests, which support rich biological diversity in the North American southwest, have experienced a sharp decline in the last century. The extent of this decline has been estimated to range from 70% to 95% across the southwest (Johnson and Haight, 1984). The principal components of riparian forests which sustain a broad spectrum of species and describe the overall health of a system are cottonwoods (sp. Populus) and willows (sp. Salix). The importance of cottonwoods is aptly described by Rood et al (1993): "....these trees provide the foundation of the riparian forest ecosystem in semi -arid areas of western North America. Unlike wetter areas to the east and west, a loss of cottonwoods in these riparian areas is not compensated through enrichment from other tree species. If the cottonwoods die, the entire forest ecosystem collapses." Cottonwood and willow species are adversely affected by anthropogenic influences ranging most prominently from the introduction of regulated flows via dams to agricultural clearing, water diversions, livestock grazing, and domestic settlement. These influences effectively alter the system hydrology that the forests rely upon. As the widespread destruction of these forests and the associated irreparable damage to endangered species habitat has come into clear view in the past decade, research efforts have focused upon identifying the ecological needs of riparian systems. The potential of modifying such systems to soften the human impact upon them, in effect presenting further alterations on a hydrologic system to return it to its natural regime, is another component of the research on riparian systems. The Bill Williams River riparian corridor, near Parker, Arizona (Figure 1.1), contains the last extensive native riparian habitat along the lower Colorado River (BWC Technical Committee, 1993). This unique resource was established as the Bill Williams River Management Unit, Havasu National Wildlife Refuge in 1941 and covers 6105 acres along the lower 12 miles of the Bill Williams River (Rivers West, 1990). The Bill Williams Unit is currently managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the U.S. Department of Interior. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also funded this research effort. The lush vegetation corresponding to the wetland conditions along the valley floor sharply contrast with the Sonoran desert landscape of the upper valley walls creating a magnificent picture. The Management Unit terminates at Lake Havasu, which forms the confluence of the Bill Williams and Colorado Rivers. The system provides habitat for a wide variety of species, many of which are endangered or state- listed species, including habitat for neotropical migratory birds. This habitat has undergone serious degeneration during the past quarter century. The recruitment of cottonwood and willow trees has been fatally interrupted by anthropogenic encroachment in the form of the construction of Alamo Dam in 1969 at the head of the Bill Williams River and commercial development along the River.

The following three chapters identify influences of the Imagist movement and the avant garde painters on the early poetry of Williams, and particularly on those poems that deal with flowers. This study is restricted to the earlier poems for several reasons, the most obvious being that Williams simply does not employ floral imagery to any extent in The Collected Later Poems. For instance, of the almost three hundred poems in The Collected Earlier Poems nearly sixty take flowers as their title or rely on floral imagery for part of their power. Nearly half that many use arboreal imagery, another prominent and important "object" in Williams' poetry, and, of course, many more use other images from the natural world. On the other hand, in The Collected Later Poems only three poems have flowers in their titles. Even in these three Williams was more interested in depicting sociological situations than in description, for his conception of poetry changed radically after the 1930's. He became convinced at that time that poetry should be serious rather than entertaining. Further, he became a staunch advocate of the "anti-poetic" theory of beauty whose chief tenet was that beauty and ugliness were part of a single whole. Nothing beautiful, like a flower, could exist without its soil of ugly, drab antecedents. James Guimond believes that this is the reason why Williams ceased presenting "his beautiful objects in splendid, static isolation from time and the world around them" (1, p. 50). Possibly 14 for these reasons the nature imagery is not nearly so dominant in these poems as in those written before 1940. Nor has the poetry of Paterson or Pictures from Breugel been included in this study. Because of the tremendous attention given them in the last five years, their nature imagery has been well covered. However, of the nature, and especially floral, imagery of the earlier poetry little has been said. Hopefully, this study will show that Williams made extensive and successful use of flowers in his poetry because they were the particular objects of the concrete world which best lent themselves to the related techniques and goals of first the Imagistic movement in poetry and later the Stieglitz school in painting.

Síndrome de Williams-Beuren (SWB) é caracterizada por fácies típico, estenose aórtica supravalvar, retardo mental, hiperacusia e anormalidades comportamentais com personalidade amigável e distúrbios de ansiedade. É causada por microdeleção de genes contíguos localizados na região 7q11.23. Foram estudados 31 pacientes WBS (19 M e 12 F) a idade variou de 9 a 26 anos (mediana 14). O diagnóstico da SWB foi confirmado pelo FISH (Fluorescence In Situ Hibridisation) ou análise de marcadores microssatélites em todos os pacientes. Os objetivos foram avaliar a capacidade cognitiva, o QI (Quociente de Inteligência) de execução, verbal e total, a freqüência de déficits visuo-espaciais, traços autisticos e comparar os resultados encontrados com os moleculares. Os testes utilizados foram: WISC-III, WAIS-III, Figuras Complexas de Rey e Escala de Traços Autísticos (ATA). O QI total variou de 51 a 86 (mediana de 63): 22 com deficiência mental leve, 4 com deficiência mental moderada; 4 limítrofes, 1 média inferior. Todos os pacientes apresentaram déficit visuo-espacial. A freqüência de traços autisticos foi encontrada em 13/31 pacientes (41,94%) com predomínio no sexo masculino (10M: 3F). Não foi encontrada correlação entre a presença de traços autísticos em relação ao tamanho da deleção. Nosso estudo reforça a importância da avaliação sistemática da função cognitiva em pacientes com SWB e alerta para a presença da alta freqüência de traços autísticos encontrados em pacientes com SWB. Estes últimos dados são preliminares e novos estudos serão necessários para confirmar esse achado específico na SWB. / Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) is characterized by typical facies, supravalvular aortic stenosis, mental retardation, hyperacusis and behavioral abnormalities with overfriendly personality and anxiety disorders. It is caused by a microdeletion of continuous genes located in 7q11.23 region. We studied 31 WBS patients (19 M and 12 F) whose ages ranged from 9 to 26 years (median 14y). The diagnosis of WBS was confirmed by FISH or microsatellite markers analysis in all patients. The objectives were to evaluate cognitive ability, IQ(Intelligence Quotient) execution, verbal and total, frequency of visual-spatial deficits and autistic traits and compare the results of molecular findings. The tests used were the WISC-III, WAIS-III, Rey Complex Figure and a scale of autistic traits (ATA). The total IQ ranged from 51 to 86 (median 63): 22 with mild intellectual disability, 4 with moderate metal retardation, 4 limitrofe and 1 below the normal mean. All patients had marked visual-spatial deficit. The frequency of autistic traits were found in 13 of 31 patients (41.94%) with a predominance in males (10M:3F). There was no correlation with the incidence of autistic traits in relation to the size of the deletion. Our study reinforces the importance of the systematic assessment of cognitive function in WBS patients, and alerts researchers to the presence of a high frequency of autistic traits found in patients with WBS. These latter data are preliminary and further studies are necessary to confirm this specific finding in WBS patients.

A neotenia é um importante processo biológico-evolutivo que conserva traços fenotípicos do jovem no indivíduo adulto. A neotenia modifica a velocidade típica da ontogênese das características morfológicas compartilhadas pelos ancestrais. Essas mudanças podem representar oportunidades de mudanças fenotípicas dramáticas com poucas alterações genéticas, possibilitando alterações de estados especializados. O etólogo Konrad Lorenz reconheceu características neotênicas em humanos e algumas espécies de mamíferos na fórmula estrutural do corpo (principalmente da face) típica de infantes. Essa fórmula corpórea foi batizada por Lorenz de Kindchenschema. Os humanos típicos respondem quando observam traços infantis ativando uma resposta chamada de Efeito Kindchenschema (EK). Neste efeito verifica-se uma diminuição da agressividade, estimulação do cuidado parental e engajamento social. São raros os trabalhos de escaneamento do olhar em portadores de disfunções do neurodesenvolvimento, como a Síndrome de Williams (SW) e o Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA). O presente trabalho é o primeiro na literatura a investigar o escaneamento do olhar em portadores de SW e TEA usando estímulos faciais neotênicos de humanos e animais. Na presente investigação foram estudados 21 portadores de SW e 25 portadores de TEA, o grupo controle (GC) contou com 33 participantes. Encontramos uma correspondência entre os resultados declarados do estímulo preferido e o tempo de fixação. Os resultados mostraram que todos os participantes fixaram mais a região dos olhos de humanos e animais, sendo que o GC fixou mais tempo do que os portadores de SW e TEA. Foi possível separar usando o tempo de fixação nos olhos e HeatMaps os três grupos investigados. É viável a produção de um exame clínico auxiliar rápido e não-invasivo para indivíduos com suspeita de uma disfunção do neurodesenvolvimento. Talvez a região do nariz e boca sejam menos importantes e as orelhas mais importantes do que pensávamos nos estímulos neotênicos. Os estímulos mais neotênicos de infantes humanos e animais produziram um padrão semelhantes do tempo de fixação nos três grupos estudados. Esses resultados demonstram que portadores de SW e TEA respondem positivamente a estímulos faciais neotênicos. Sugerimos que as novas investigações na área incorporem também como variáveis faciais as orelhas, cor do cabelo e olhos, e simetria facial / Neoteny is an important biological-evolutionary process that retains phenotypic traits of the young in the adult individual of a species. Neoteny modifies the typical ontogeny velocity of the morphological characteristics shared with the ancestors. These changes may represent opportunities for dramatic phenotype modifications with few genetic changes, allowing for alterations in specialized states. The ethologist Konrad Lorenz has recognized neotenic characteristics in humans and some species of mammals in the structural formula of the body (mainly of the face) typical of infants. This body formula was named by Lorenz Kindchenschema. Typical humans respond when they observe infant traits by activating a response called the Kindchenschema Effect (KE). In this effect, there is a decrease in aggressiveness, stimulation of parental care and social engagement. There is a paucity of eye scanning in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders such as Williams Syndrome (WS) and Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The present work is the first in the literature to investigate the eye scanning in WS and ASD patients using neotenic facial stimuli of humans and animals. In the present investigation, 21 WS and 25 ASD participants were studied. The control group (CG) had 33 participants. We found a correspondence between the stated results of the preferred stimulus and the fixation time. The results showed that all the participants fixed more the region of the eyes of humans and animals, and the CG fixed more time than the WS and ASD participants. It was possible to distinguish, using the fixation time in the eyes and Heat Maps, the three groups. The production of a rapid and non-invasive auxiliary clinical examination is feasible for individuals suspected in presenting a neurodevelopmental dysfunction. Perhaps the nose and mouth areas are less important, and the ears are more important than previously considered with respect. The more neotenic stimuli of human and animal infants produced a similar pattern of fixation time in the three groups studied. This may represent a greater adaptive value than we thought of those with WS and ASD. We suggest that the new investigations can also incorporate facial variables as ears, hair color and eyes, and facial symmetry