This Master of Arts by research was comprised of two components: creative practice (60%) and a written thesis (40%). The creative practice was partially represented in an exhibition of paintings, drawings, photographs and artist books entitled Traces, held at WiseART Gallery, 166 Ann St, Brisbane, March 2005. The written component is represented in this manuscript. This case study illustrates the creative process of an individual artistic practice through intuitive inquiry, which utilized self-observation methods such as painting, drawing, photographing, bookmaking, exhibitions, journaling, questioning and mindfulness. Intuitive inquiry is outlined as the predominant method of both the phenomenon of art making in this case, as well as the method used to study the creative process. The concept of intuitive inquiry as a research method, by its similarity to this particular creative process, was well suited to studying its delicate, preconscious, internally reflective and reflexive activities. Intuitive inquiry also underpins the exceptional, transformative experiences of the artist, which are often excluded from conventional empirical research. The results of this study demonstrate that it is through the hermeneutic interpretations of process, product and dialogue that a deeper understanding of the creative process is gained. The hermeneutic model of creative process that emerged (Fig 4.14) will assist others in a deeper understanding of how creative process can be utilized in generating new knowledge. More importantly, it is this creative interpretive process that can lead to transformative experiences, which encourage both the artist and the audience to search for a deeper engagement with each other and the world.

Young characters throughout the history of Australian theatre have traditionally been represented as tragic, transient, and dangerous; discourses which have defined and limited their construction. 'Youth' itself is a concept which has been invented and perpetuated within Western Art and Media for much of the twentieth century and beyond, creating an exclusive 'space' for young people: a space between childhood and a standard human being. This thesis seeks to explore the implications of this space, as well as contextualise a new creative work - the stage play like, dead - within the canon of Australian theatre texts which portray young characters. like, dead will be shown to be a work which reappropriates clichéd youthful discourses through the use of irony, humour, and a sense of postmodern 'performativity' among its characters. In so doing it will demonstrate an alternative approach to representing young people on the Australian stage, by enhancing the constructedness of traditional images of 'youth' and pursuing the creation of young characters which are not solely defined by the term.

This exegesis interrogates the mental illness Pure Erotomania, the rare delusional disorder which presents with the sufferer having the delusional (and therefore unshakeable) belief that the person they objectify is in love with them. My play Yellow Roses in Fortitude Valley is about one woman's emotional journey as she is relentlessly stalked by a Pure Erotomanic male. It is a fascinating mental illness, which includes all the 'box office type' features, which make it an exciting and frightening subject to write a dramatic work about. It is confusing, illusory, surreal and frightening, but best of all for the writer and audience it is a real human condition. Yellow Roses in Fortitude Valley is written in a style that truthfully represents and portrays the journey and struggle for both the victim and the sufferer. The research undertaken for both the play and exegesis was a hybrid of many overlapping disciplines involved in the current discourse. As a recently diagnosed and recognized disorder, it is still new territory for professionals in the field and for audience members. I believe this makes it an opportune time for an academically researched creative project to enter into current discourse. Previous creative works on this topic, some of which I have interrogated, have approached the issue of stalking as a predator/victim scenario, an unrequited love or a domestic violence situation. I wished to portray the stalking as a mental illness in the form of the psychiatric disorder Erotomania, my approach undertaking to explain victim impact and the prolonged and chronic course of Erotomanic stalking. I also wished to illustrate the underlying themes which I uncovered during my research, being; female victims of sex crimes; dominant patriarchal ideology; and the current interventions in stalking by the legal and mental health systems.

This research project comprises a stage play Section 24 of the Criminal Code, and accompanying exegesis, which focuses upon the experience of a woman accessing the Criminal Justice system after she is raped. The play is in the verbatim model and draws upon court transcript, which is deconstructed to reveal the workings of Defence counsel 'storylines' and meta-narratives of gender, sexual availability and power. The exegesis investigates attitudes toward rape and rape victims perpetuated by Australian popular culture, and the way that myths about false rape complaints and 'deserving victims' continue to influence the reporting and conviction rates for rape. The thesis argues that recent reforms have yet to make an impact on the conviction rate or experience of women accessing the Justice system, because of entrenched misogyny within the system itself. Several factors contribute to widespread ignorance of the reality of our own Criminal Justice system, and the thesis proposes that a work of verbatim theatre may redress the paucity of understanding that enables the dysfunction of the current system. The paper explores the different approaches taken by Verbatim theatre practitioners and the appropriateness of the Verbatim theatre model for communicating this particular (lived) experience. Questions of ownership over one's story, and representation in that story indicate the emancipatory potential of a work. Where practitioners do not have a personal connection to their subject matter or material and access material that is already in the public domain, they may feel a greater freedom to manipulate story and character for dramatic effect, or to suit an activist agenda for change. It is shown that a playwright with a personal connection to her material and subject must address issues of ownership, ethical representation, veracity and verisimilitude when creating a piece of verbatim theatre. Preferencing the truth of the Complainant Woman's experience over the orthodoxies of the well-made play may contribute to a negative response to the work from male audiences. However, the thesis concludes that the subject of rape and its prosecution invokes a gendered response in itself, and ultimately questions the desirability of presenting a play that delivers a palatable story rather than an unpleasant truth.

This study focuses on trends in contemporary Australian playwrighting, discussing recent investigations into the playwrighting process. The study analyses the current state of this country’s playwrighting industry, with a particular focus on programming trends since 1998. It seeks to explore the implications of this current theatrical climate, in particular the types of work most commonly being favoured for production. It argues that Australian plays are under-represented (compared to non-Australian plays) on ‘mainstream’ stages and that audiences might benefit from more challenging modes of writing than the popular three-act realist play models. The thesis argues that ‘New Lyricism’ might fill this position of offering an innovative Australian playwrighting mode. New Lyricism is characterised by a set of common aesthetics, including a non-linear narrative structure, a poetic use of language and magic realism. Several Australian playwrights who have adopted this mode of writing are identified and their works examined. The author’s play Floodlands is presented as a case study and the author’s creative process is examined in light of the published critical discussions about experimental playwriting work.

This thesis aims to further our understanding of the emergent phenomenon of Theatre for Early Years (TEY) in Scotland. It interrogates a series of artistic practices – traditional, postdramatic, participatory – with the aim of proposing a possible dramaturgy of arts for the very young. Practice typically precedes theory in new fields of performance. TEY currently lacks a coherent theoretical framework or dramaturgy, instead drawing on interdisciplinary strands of psychology, pedagogy and existing dramaturgical practices from older forms of theatre for children. This study explores artists' embodied knowledge as a repository of skill, while also recognising external factors that impact on creative production, from belief systems to training, the search for funding and the struggle for recognition. Using Grounded Theory as a method to analyse interviews with 26 leading Scottish practitioners, this project undertakes a qualitative investigation of current practice in the devising and production of performing arts for very young audiences. The thesis also considers debates around legitimation and human rights for the very young, as well as cognitive models of infant development from psychology. The process points towards a Grounded Theory which proposes that Scottish Early Years artists undergo an attitudinal shift towards a belief that children should access high-quality cultural experiences on the same basis as adults. Secondly, it suggests that these artists believe they possess a unique skill-set worthy of recognition. The theory points towards an associated dramaturgy centring on equality, and the generalisability of both is then assessed via an innovatory Practice-as-Research case study converting a TEY production into a digital app. While the project is geographically limited to Scotland, its findings may have international applicability. This study could contribute to a wider praxis of arts for the very young beyond theatre, giving practitioners across the cultural sphere the opportunity to engage with the proposed dramaturgy.

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