The Arkansaw Bear, a children's play by Aurand Harris, was first performed on March 20-29, 1980, by The University of Texas at Austin. On October 23-25, 1981, the play was produced at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia under the direction of Marie Wendt Zirkenbach. The author describes this production with a script analysis and a narrative of how the production evolved. A diary on the actual directing process used, an annotated prompt script, evaluation, production photos, production ground plans, and various relevant materials are included. The thesis also contains a narrative on how production choices were made. / Master of Fine Arts