Something in it for the underdog: the playwriting of Joan Ure

No abstract available

Resisting lore in playwriting education : an investigation into the pedagogy of playwriting

In September of 2006, the Dramatists Guild's magazine, The Dramatist, asked the question, "Can Playwriting Be Taught?" on its cover. Inside, Marsha Norman (Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright) called this question "age-old." And yet, in the United States, there are, as of this writing, 58 MFA programs in playwriting. There are over 90 organizations devoted to developing plays and playwrights. Playwriting is, in fact, being taught--in lots of places. And playwriting classrooms are attracting a diverse pool of learners--students from differing cultures of literacy, non-binary and transgender students, differently-abled students, and students who are just taking the class for the fun of it. However, the pedagogical models in the field appear to be traditional, handed down from one instructor to another. Paul Gardiner observes that there has been "scarce research that interrogates playwriting pedagogy" (Gardiner and Anderson 177). Is this lack of interrogation the reason people keep asking if teaching playwriting is even possible? This research study is designed to contribute to the conversation. This qualitative research study involved meeting with playwriting instructors around the country, observing them in classrooms, and examining documentation created to support the instruction. This research will investigate the following questions: Is playwriting instruction, in fact, generally lore-based? What are the signature pedagogies of the field and the various ways to deploy them? What are the key challenges in the playwriting classroom and solutions for dealing with them?Includes bibliographical references

The director-playwright collaboration on new play production

The Director-Playwright Collaboration on New Play Production is an investigation of the working relationship between the playwright and the director and the process of new play production. The research is gathered by a series of interviews with student and professional playwrights and professional directors. The body of the thesis consists of an explanation of the interview process, a reporting of the information assembled during the interviews, an analysis of the information, and conclusions. Biographies of those interviewed are included as an appendix

\u3cem\u3eBeyond Therapy\u3c/em\u3e: A Dramaturgical Look at Christopher Durang\u27s Absurdist Play

This research notebook (also known as a dramaturgy notebook) was created as a class project for an advanced Theatre History course. We were asked to choose one play to study throughout the semester with the ultimate goal of creating a dramaturgy notebook that would be usable for a production team were we to produce our show of choice. Having a great interest in Christopher Durang and his work, I chose to study Beyond Therapy. We were asked specifically to write a biography on our chosen playwright, a historical context essay, an essay about themes present in the show, and an essay commenting on published criticisms on various performances of the show. Beyond that, we were also asked to write two supplements that might be found in a dramaturgy notebook. For this portion of the assignment I chose to write a press release covering the fictional Linfield production, and to create a question and answer section culminating in some interview questions published on Durang’s website. While the notebook as a whole serves to provide context for a production team, each section of the notebook has its own stand-alone function. In 2014, this research was presented at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (Region VII) in Boise, Idaho and was awarded first runner-up in the dramaturgy category

The Shadow of a Doubt: discovering a new work by Edith Wharton

No abstract available

French Fries and Mayo (1992)

Playwright: Brandon Hawes Director: David Kahn Set Design: James K. Culley Costumes: William Henshaw Academic Year: 1992-1993https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/productions_1990s/1024/thumbnail.jp

Dear Jacques ... Lecoq in the twenty first century

This essay considers Jacques Lecoq's influence almost 20 years after his death. Arguing that Lecoq's pedagogy is largely as relevant today as it was when he was still alive, the author speculates whether Lecoq would have welcomed developments in the use of digital technology within live performance. The essay proposes that much of Lecoq's teaching with its emphasis on play, complicite, invention, imagination and the creative actor remains relevant to contemporary developments in site-specific, immersive and postdramatic theatre. The essay is constructed in the form of a posthumous letter to Jacques Lecoq

Rewriting Greek Tragedies as Immigrant Stories

In this piece originally published in the New York Times, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner writes about Mojada, Luis Alfaro\u27s adaptation of the Greek tragedy, Medea. Mojada is part of a trilogy from Alfaro that attempts to bring his Latino community into modern theater by writing them into classical plays

Terra Nova (1984)

Playwright: Ted Tally Director: Howard Burman Set Design: Paul Vierra Costumes: Eliza Chugg Academic Year: 1984-1985https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/productions_1980s/1056/thumbnail.jp