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Theatre as Resistance: Application of Queer and Feminist Theories to Theatrical Practice and Pedagogy

Throughout my time at UCF, I have committed my studies to better understanding my positionality as someone who both benefits and suffers from systems of oppression. I have dedicated my pedagogy and artistry to questioning how I can apply theatre as a tool to resist these systems through my work, as well as wondering how I may communicate my thoughts and concerns to the colleagues I collaborate with as I am to hold myself accountable for my involvement in works that I recognize as being in need of revision in order to resist systems of oppression. I conceptualize that to resist means to intentionally take accountability for one's implicit biases, in order to actively identify how the work we create may resist those biases rather than uphold the oppressions that supports them. In my thesis, I will reflect on how I have applied feminist and queer theories to my work as a director, playwright, and dramaturg, in order to develop a methodology for fostering resistance in the kind of theatre that I partake in. I ask how applying these theories may help me to expand my understanding of what the shows I participate in can accomplish, and what advice theory has to offer about introducing the concept of resistance to rehearsal spaces. My background as an Egyptian American Muslim cisgendered queer woman influences much of the perspective I bring into rehearsal rooms, production meetings, and to my writing as a poet and a playwright. Therefore, this thesis also aims to examine how my lived experiences intersect with the queer and feminist theories I employ in my theatrical practices. I will do this by sharing details about my upbringing, and including poetry related to multiple themes related to the shows reflected on in the following chapters.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd2023-1245
Date01 January 2024
CreatorsGomaa, Chanel H
PublisherSTARS
Source SetsUniversity of Central Florida
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceGraduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024
RightsIn copyright

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