In the fall of 1981 I came to the point in my studies where it became necessary to choose a thesis project. The standard procedure in the Department of Theatre at Virginia Commonwealth University is to have design students do set designs for one of the mainstage productions as their thesis project. At the time that the thesis proposal was due the 1981-1982 season had not been decided upon, so I submitted a proposal stating that I would design a "mainstage production for Theatre V.C.U." as my project and that the documentation of this project would be my thesis. I expressed an interest in doing a show early in the season so that I could do a good deal of the design work during the summer. I was assigned the set design for the opening show of the season, Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson, to be directed by Richard L. Newdick, a professor in the Department of Theatre. Because of work I had been doing in an advanced lighting design class, it was suggested that I should do the lighting design for the show as well. This suggestion pleased me because it would allow complete artistic control of all the visual aspects of the show other than costumes. My assistantship at the university included the supervision of the scene shop. Because of this, and because one of my professional goals is to teach on the university level, it was decided that the supervision of the construction and the installation of the set and ordering of the materials--basically the technical direction of the show could also be added as a third part of the thesis project. It was finally decided that for my thesis project I would design sets and lights and act as technical director for the production of Fifth of July to be performed at Shafer Street Playhouse, October 6-16, 1982, for the Department of Theatre at Virginia Commonwealth University.

This is the thesis of Keyla McClure analyzing her artistic process, growth as an artist, and future artistic goals. It includes an annotated performance history and bibliography of academic resources from her time at the University of Iowa.

As the reader, you have to imagine my pain and joy in sharing the complex simple motive behind the journey of living. It is a journey based in truth and spiritual progression. We risk our spirit and soul to reach beyond what we know of one another. We attempt to capture an essence of truth in a moment's time. It's a very big moment's time that lends itself to the viewer as infinity. For we, like the viewer, have much to learn and, perhaps, take in this journey. We bend time, place, and motive to find the ugliness of our species and the beauty of our world. With this "one-self", the collective, we search for our past, reveal our future, and capture our "beings" in a light called the stage. It is the essence of the living and dying.

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The two women presented in this paper have existed in print, in performance, and in people's minds for centuries. One, from India, is praised as the epitome of the honorable and devoted wife and mother. The other, from Greece, is commended as the noble and benevolent daughter. This paper, and the accompanying performative work, is a cross-cultural investigation of sacrificial women in literature using two women from two ancient mythologies: Sita from Valmiki's Ramayana and Iphigenia from Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis. In various forms of literature and performance, Sita is presented as the role model of wifely duty. Iphigenia is praised as the sacrificial daughter by honoring her father, and her country, with her sacrifice. This work seeks to remain close to the original texts, while also re-shaping them to fit a modern argument.

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The goal of this work is to explain the process through which I develop a character as an actor. I will explain the crucial elements that I believe great actors exude and also where I have been able--and also unable--to adopt these elements. The act of writing down these ideas is beneficial to myself because it requires me to express on paper what could easily be discussed with any other actor endlessly in circles comparing and contrasting processes and tendencies of practice. I will be able to look back to this particular work in the future and see how I have grown and what principles I'm sure I'll possibly still believe are paramount to great acting. I hope this work will also benefit younger actors who might come across my words and realize that they aren't as clueless and off-the-mark as they might think they are as a result of doing this type of work. I could certainly be the one who is clueless--and only time will answer that question. By exploring and expressing the ways in which I work, I hope I am able to offer some tangible insight to the general public as to what an actor actually does in preparation for a role that they might see onstage or in a film.

My work as a queer, feminist playwright is centered around reimagining the presentation of women and other marginalized people on stage. I write highly theatrical comedies meant to highlight and satirize aspects of presentation and representation related to gender, race and power. This play is titled The Age of Innocence, like the Edith Wharton novel which I have never read. I learned from the internet that Wharton wrote the novel in 1920 when she was 50 years old and thinking about her childhood days in New York City in the 1870’s long before the horrors of WWI. The novel is about the forbidden love and extramarital affair between very wealthy white people who cannot deny their love but are afraid of any impropriety that could threaten their wealth and social status. My play of the same title is inspired by Wharton’s novel and also by the very public breakup announcement made by famous television writer-director Jill Soloway and famous poet Eileen Myles. Soloway and Myles announced their breakup at a museum lecture that was supposed to be about queer media and queer literature. They decided to use the public speaking opportunity to publicly announce their breakup and process details of their relationship with the audience. My play is a comedy that borrows the premise of the Soloway Myles breakup announcement and a little of the structure of Wharton’s novel to examine gender presentation, race, privilege, romance and age.

Communication, involves the skill and craftsmanship of an aspiring artist to investigate the possibilities within. Interaction and communion with the world is amplified by practice of breathing in, during multiple circumstances. Acting is reacting to the world and the multiple microcosms in it. But why is this important, why is this necessary, why is there a need to act, to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances? This University is a place that has given me the opportunity to investigate these curiosities. Not everyone has the opportunity to commit to the investigation of what it means to breathe in the atmosphere in a specific context and to respond with impulse in forms of both sound and movement. This process is investigating what it means to find truth in oneself in response to the space, time, and people. The investigating is of what it means to be, rather than to manipulate a world that caters to the ego, in truth the ego must dissipate. I came here with ideas and determinations, but all of this anticipatory preparation is what I had to let go of in pursuance of truth and the development of a craft. I used to believe my time here was an end point that would lead me to a goal. It is not; it is an introduction to the rest of my life. I am a student now and forever. I encourage the reader to take one thing, consider what it means to be a life long learner.