This thesis examines performative geographies of racial and ethnic identity and how these operate through the specific artistic practices, aesthetics and spaces of Asian American theatre. This is achieved through an ethnographic methodology that examines the rehearsals and staged performances of two Asian American productions in Los Angeles: Imelda: A New Musical (East West Players) and Solve for X (Lodestone Theatre Ensemble). The thesis brings together two bodies of work on performance that have remained separate within geography, namely: performance as a socialised practice of identity and performance as a creative artistic practice. It therefore examines Asian American theatre as a socio-political institution where marginalised identities can be re-centred, explored and contested. In so doing it pays attention to the diasporic and multicultural geographies of Asian American identity as well as the spatialized dynamics of the embodied techniques through which those identities were re-performed. Specifically, this thesis examines Imelda: A New Musical to highlight how theatrical performance allowed actors to construct essentialist diasporic Filipino identities that worked across different geographical scales (chapter three). This thesis also examines the cultural-political locations of this production by using intercultural literatures on translation and authenticity (chapter four). The production Solve for X is examined for how it re-created Asian American identity in ways that moved beyond mainstream stereotypical expectations. This thesis focuses on such a re-working of racialized performativity through the relationship between script and performance (chapter five). It also brings together geographical work on affect and emotion with theatrical literatures that attempt to socialise Stanislavskian forms of acting (chapter six). The thesis thus contributes to interdisciplinary engagements on space, identity and performance, moving them towards a 'theatrical geography' (conclusion).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:498905 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Rogers, Amanda |
| Publisher | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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