Actors are frequently required to be emotionally available on the spot, in situations ranging from an early morning acting class, to filming a scene well past midnight after a full day on set. In theatre, there is the expectation to deliver the right emotion every performance, and in film, when the camera and crew are ready, the actor is expected to produce the emotion at that moment. This demand to give emotionally compelling performances can cause an actor to stress under the pressure to deliver. Acting for stage and film have similarities and differences, and an actor needs to learn how to adjust for the emotional nuances of each. This thesis explores an actresses' practice-as-research experience with emotional availability on various films (independent and student feature, short, and industrial films), and an outdoor amphitheater production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The techniques used, and each situation's circumstances, are analyzed to find what helped or hindered access to emotional availability. With what is learned from this practice-as-research, the actress decides the next steps in her journey to increase her emotional availability.

As theatre graduates walk across the stage and receive their diplomas, the message they hold close to their hearts is "Go forth and act." The next day, week, or month the question becomes very clear, "HOW?" This thesis focuses on a practical problem facing theatre graduates whose goals are pursuing the field of acting professionally. Theatre students are given the basic tools for honing their skills but are unequipped to create a viable, sustainable career in the field. The objectives in this paper are to outline problems actors encounter when attempting to build a career and offer practical advice for starting, building, and maintaining a career in the performing arts. The methodology I used was primarily qualitative. The examples and data were collected primarily through personal experience. In addition, I gathered advice and personal examples from professionals who have been faced with the daunting task of pursuing a career in theatre and the solutions they offer when navigating the field. This methodology was the best choice in light of the fact that those faced with the uncertainty of how to begin and maintain a career know best the problems young actors will face. Practical suggestions do not come in the form of numbers. This paper reveals the problems faced with this difficult task and gives actors the tools necessary to pursue a career as well as adjust to the ever-changing requirements of a theatre career. Actors may then use this advice as it applies to their individual careers. Using the tools given during academic training, the actor must build the foundation and structure of a career, and then begin marketing that career. The primary focus of the foundation in this thesis is creating a strong audition package. Through my research, the problems involved in creating this package were delineated and practical solutions were offered. The structure of the career focused primarily on the rehearsal and performance process. Emphasis was placed on not only performance excellence, but the communication skills and etiquette needed to build a reputation in the theatre community. Finally, marketing the career gives practical advice for demo reels, headshots, resumes, websites, and financial concerns. No path to an acting career is the same for every actor. Success can never be guaranteed, but a viable, sustainable career in theatre is possible. Actors need to understand the problems they will face, and this thesis gives practical approaches to be used to overcome the many obstacles they face.

In the fall of 2020, I began one of my most demanding graduate career courses, Audition Techniques. We explored Michael Shurtleff's book, Auditions, to learn about his auditioning techniques. I found early on in this journey that I lacked a consistent approach to auditions. This thesis represents the process of auditioning and will serve as a tool for actors transitioning from the educational theater, seeking to improve confidence in auditioning. In a regional theater audition for the Orlando Shakes, I will evaluate my ability to apply techniques learned in educational theater training, such as Shurtleff's 12 guideposts and ways to approach Shakespeare's text. I will document my audition process for the open call and callbacks of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre. I am searching for ways to personalize my characters by implementing Shurtleff's 12 guideposts and techniques to approach Shakespeare, such as paraphrasing, defining, scanning, playing actions, and grammatical breath. This study concluded that the method mentioned above empowered me as an actor and strengthened the way I prepared for auditions.

The following research project is the result of comparing and contextualizing the original non-musical and musical drafts of the original 1961 Broadway production of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. The intention is to detail the process of musically adapting a non-musical source, specifically the 1952 satirical text How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying: The Dastard's Guide to Fame and Fortune by businessman-turned-satirist Shepherd Mead. Research was predominantly completed through analysis of the non-musical draft written by television writers Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert in the 1950s and acquired from the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library. This was supplemented through acquisition of the eventual musical draft by Broadway book writer and director Abe Burrows from the same institution. The research found that adapting non-musical satire for the Broadway stage can prove challenging and equally beneficial when mounting an American musical. The study additionally foregrounded the struggle to perceive How to Succeed... as "satirical" in the modern era against its implied sexist undertones evident in all iterations of How to Succeed.... The overall findings intend to provide scholarship offering an in-depth examination of the two principal adaptations of a landmark Broadway musical considered part of the revered Broadway canon. Doing so will provide a richer context to its legacy and, simultaneously, provide a necessary discourse on determining the individuals responsible for its conception.

Actors have ingrained vocal, physical, and mental habits they unknowingly use on stage in the form of physical movements, vocalization, and character choices which can inadvertently communicate information to the audience. Rarely, however, are actors asked to play themselves and if their own habits are unconsciously being merged with their intentional character choices, then the audience's perception of the actor's portrayal may be shaped by unintentional behavior. "The Actor and the Iceberg" will be a synthesis of awareness building and control techniques for the mind and body, specifically: meditation, mindfulness, the Feldenkrais Method, and the Alexander Technique. The goal of combining these techniques is that they will enable the actor to gain awareness and control of their habits, thus providing them the ability to create a character with inherently genuine choices unblemished by actor tendencies. These ideas will be incorporated through the portrayals of Don Pedro and Wilmore in The Rover. The success of the process will be measured by a biweekly self-examination of habit recognition and control coinciding with a bi weekly examination via movement professor and stage combat instructor.

This thesis is an exploration of best practices in regards to creating a safe space within the theatre for artists to feel comfortable creating without risk to their emotional or physical safety. These safe spaces are particularly needed around shows which call for onstage racial violence or racist language. Methodology for these best practices includes theatrical intimacy, safe space creation as utilized by various advocacy groups, Theatre of the Oppressed, and drama therapy. In addition to these best practices that apply to the entire production, ideas for individual practice are explored. As a case study, Theatre UCF's production of Sweat by Lynn Nottage is examined; the successes and areas for potential growth within the work to create a safe space.

Theatre for Young Audiences companies in the United States rely heavily on recognized titles to bring in audiences. As a result, most of their productions are adapted from recognizable titles, including films, television series, and popular literature. These adaptations draw audiences in that may not otherwise go to the theatre, which is especially important within the world of TYA where the target audience (children) only gains access to a theatre through adult caregivers. Additionally, most children go to the theatre as part of school field trips, further encouraging season selections that will fill educational needs in addition to providing theatrical experience. The intersection between theatres, the adapted works they produce, and the educational responsibilities of these theatres were the inspiration for this thesis. How can theatres help audiences move away from simple compare and contrast between a book and a play? How can theatres promote more meaningful interaction with the artistic process? This thesis seeks to provide a pathway for practitioners seeking to foster more meaningful audience engagement. It begins with a history of how Theatre for Young Audiences, dramaturgy, and adaptation theory evolved in the United States. That context provides a foundation on which to explore how the intersectionality of each of these domains can be harnessed to engage audiences in purposeful critical thinking about the art they see and drive them toward becoming thoughtful creators on their own.

An overview of the lighting design processes for two main stage productions produced by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Theater, EVERYBODY by Branden Jacobs Jenkins, and DANCE NATION by Clare Barron, with specific emphasis on the emotional, logistical, and pedagogical challenges of producing live theater in an educational setting after a year of isolation due to the covid pandemic. This thesis documents my design process for each production including text analysis, preproduction process, collaboration with the assistant Lighting Designer Hyejung Kang and the production electrician Michael Dubin, and includes reflections on my experiences teaching and mentoring students throughout the collaborative and production processes.

An experience, early in my life, at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center opened my eyes to the transformative power of Theatre - it would shape my ambitions for performance, inform the choices I made about my acting career, and impel my passions. That single moment had a profound and lasting effect on my soul, one that would ultimately point me to the purpose of "me;" but what exactly was it? What transaction occurred between the performers on stage, and myself, and others in attendance that evening? My life as an actor has been an incredible journey of growth. Over forty-six U.S. states, and abroad, I have performed in Broadway musicals, stage plays, concerts, recordings, cabarets, as part of political campaigns and sporting events, and in universities, schools, and churches. Acting has fundamentally changed the way I see people, and challenges the way I learn, express and see myself. As my imagination, creativity, and craft has grown, I remain profoundly impacted by my experience in Tampa, and I have often wondered exactly what happened that evening? Did it have anything to do with the synesthetic elements of the performance – the lights, sounds, or scenery? Was it specifically the music, the voices, the amazing singers? Perhaps it was the daring acting and story. Did it depend on particular foreknowledge or familiarity of skill, or craft? Was it something that happened by chance, or by design? Was it because of me? Or did it, somehow, override everything I was at the time? Was it something intangible that is present at some, or all, theatrical events that enlivened the experience? This paper seeks to provide answers to some of these questions. My process in seeking answers will be to chronicle my own life experience as a person/artist. Having begun a script a couple of years ago, I decided to return to solo performance as a means to help me determine what made the experience I related so memorable. The attempt is to write and perform a solo performance piece that chronicles the foundation of this incredible journey of growth, while shedding light on the initial Tampa experience. My intention is to gain an understanding about something I believe contributes to "theatrical spirituality." I believe that the unique blending of the script and the interpretation of these words through acting can impart life. The combined force of the power of story and the spoken word can cause something tangible, something good, meaningful and of intrinsic worth to happen in an individual or audience as a result of a performance. It is my belief that the formation, articulation and expression of that understanding represents, in part, my acting philosophy – what I do and why I do it. In a broader and more important sense, however, it also represents my understanding of who I am and why I am.

Higher Education in the U.S. today is experiencing a theoretical and practical shift toward educating the "whole person" and to that end, is investigating ways to include spirituality in all facets of the academy. This requires focusing on the concept that "in addition to material knowledge, spiritual, emotional, and ethical knowledge is imparted to students" (Khan 2009). Many colleges and universities are searching for avenues to answer this call and better prepare students as business, political and social leaders in a new millennia that defines religion very differently than it did twenty years ago. Today, students are exposed to a much wider array of organized religions from all over the globe. Additionally, the very definitions of religion and spirituality have undergone a seismic shift making it difficult for colleges to incorporate a religious or spiritual focus into curriculum. More and more people are cobbling together their own unique combinations of religious ideas, practices, experiences and core values from a variety of religious and non-religious sources. The term 'spirituality' is sometimes used to describe this new do-it-yourself faith...To be 'spiritual' understood in this sense, is to have deeply held convictions, and anyone can have those kinds of heartfelt allegiances. This new ambiguity about what counts as religion or spirituality makes it virtually impossible to keep religion out of higher education. (Jacobsen and Jacobsen 2012) Research on the subject of religion and spirituality indicates that this is a point of major concern for many young American college students who are searching for personal and social significance. (Arnett 2000a; Astin, et al. 2011; Jacobsen and Jacobsen 2012) This study asserts that college students enter a unique stage of development known as emerging adulthood (Arnett 2000a) that calls for increased focus on meaning making and identity formation. In an effort to meet the individual and institutional need for spiritual exploration, this study will offer specific applied theatre practices that connect theories in theatre, psychology, student development and leadership designed to serve the emerging adult population as part of a holistic educational vision. This study confirms the feasibility of such a program by a detailed examination of specific theatre techniques and, in particular, the adaptation of Playback Theatre as the most viable form for inner life exploration and campus community building. A formal investigation into the efficacy of theatrical methods is called for as validation of theories and practices offered here. It is my hope that this research will encourage campus-wide awareness of theatre's utility and application to a wider range of students. By recognizing the need to educate the "whole person", institutions of Higher Education can give students the best possible preparation for a full and meaningful adult life through theatre practices uniquely designed for the purpose of inner life exploration and awareness. Key Implications: new areas of application for Applied Theatre Studies; collaborative opportunities for college theatre departments and student services, expansion of campus wide-visibility and understanding of theatre arts, feasibility for attending to student inner life needs and student community building through theatre.