Ph.D. - Theatre

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https://hdl.handle.net/10125/2166

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 23

Digital Autoethnography and Reflexive Performance: Navigating Intercultural Aesthetics in Practice as Research
(2024) Felluss, Scott Elias; Miller, Kara Jhalak; Theatre
The Living Newspaper 2.0: A New Hybrid of Traditional Living Newspaper Forms
(2024) Labagnara, Julie; Stirr, Anna; Theatre
STAGING CHINESE DANCING BODIES: BEIJING DANCE ACADEMY AND ITS CROSS-CENTURY PERFORMANCES, EXCHANGES, AND PRACTICES
(2024) An, Yi; Miller, Jhalak JKM; Theatre
Blurring the Color Line: Disrupting Race, Gender, and Historical Narratives Through Documentary Film
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2023) Kwok, Crystal Lee; Miller, Kara; Theatre
Disrupting the predominantly Black-and-White narrative of America’s racial history, I complicate this binary structure by examining the lives of Chinese families who ran grocery stores in the Black neighborhood in Augusta, Georgia during Jim Crow. I present my research in the form of a documentary film, using visual language as a privileged medium for critical analysis. Challenging conventional modes of knowledge production, Blurring the Color Line presents itself as a form of radical scholarship at the intersections of history, memory, and the politics of framing. I argue for using Blur as Method, to dwell in liminal spaces in search for deeper knowledge. This documentary presents a performative way of understanding how history is produced and what forms of power are at play. I question how race performs, how hidden voices speak, and what the women’s stories reveal. The Chinese complicated America’s racial history. Their invisibility marks the power systems which I address in the film. Through the women’s stories, I entangle the Chinese immigrant experience with African American history. Situating myself in the film with my partial perspective, I present a vulnerability that exposes both the power and fragility of voice. Blurring the Color Line not only privileges the silent spaces as a critical lens on racism, but interrogates the very system that perpetuates the unequal distribution of power. Through a critical analysis of my process in the making of the film, this dissertation illuminates the complex and political process of knowledge production while breaking boundaries in scholarship around racial and historical narratives.
Metanoia And Our Legacy: The Fostering Of Student Agency Through Devised Theatre Education
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2022) Poblete, Mike; Wessendorf, Markus; Theatre
Education is in many ways a by-product of life. As global discourse continues to push towards reform that would allow populations around the world increased agency over their lives, one of the most critical conversations in education today concerns how to allow students greater agency over their own learning. Scholars like Paulo Freire argue that the capacity of students to be able to assert power over their own learning processes is critical for those of underserved backgrounds so that they might become masters of their own thinking and, by extension, potentially their lives. While research into this area continues to expand, little of it focuses on theatre education, and almost none explores the agentive potential of devised theatre. This collaborative performance methodology emphasizes multiple perspectives and encourages non-verbal artistic forms. In this dissertation, I present the results of an exploratory, multiple-case study designed to examine how two groups of public high school students on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu asserted agency during the spring and autumn of 2021 within two devised theatre classrooms: one online and one in-person. Working with established devised methodologies, creative writing, improvisation, various theatre games, and a new dramaturgical methodology, the participants created two digital performances exploring contemporary issues, largely in relation to the impact COVID-19 had on their community. Based on quantitative and qualitative analyses of survey results, group interviews, and field observations, I argue that a devised theatre educational methodology aimed at allowing students as much agency as possible has the potential to celebrate student cultural differences as assets, to validate student efforts outside of the classroom, and to foster collaborative learning over remote learning environments. Further, I believe that the collaborative nature of devised theatre allows for the cultivation of different forms of agency, including those that arise both individually and collectively. Finally, I make the case that the flexibility and adaptability of devising make it a formidable learning methodology in an increasingly shifting and unpredictable world; and as a result, it has the potential to play an essential role in the ongoing discourse on student agency and broad educational reform in the twenty-first century classroom.
Locale, Liminality, And Legitimacy In Contemporary Sagi Kyōgen: Conceptualizing Tradition Outside Kyōgen’s Professional World
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2022) Rogals, Frederick Alex; Iezzi, Julie A.; Theatre
This dissertation looks at the history of the Sagi style of kyōgen, its transformation into a regionalized non-professional art form in the Meiji Period (1868-1912), and the contemporary practice of its current artists. An initial goal of this work is to correct a common misconception that Sagi kyōgen ceased in the Meiji period. It did not; it merely became something which operates outside the institutionalized model of professional kyōgen. That being said, activity outside the professional sphere is not a simple matter of either/or, and contemporary Sagi kyōgen’s in-between status is the source of many dilemmas within the practice of contemporary Sagi kyōgen itself. As such, a primary goal of this work is to examine the liminal space in which contemporary Sagi kyōgen practitioners operate. As they are not part of the professional world, one might be inclined to simply call them amateurs or enthusiasts. However, unlike amateurs, contemporary Sagi kyōgen performers have been tasked with preserving Sagi kyōgen’s traditions and, like the professionals, are responsible for passing on their knowledge to the next generation of actors. Moreover, as contemporary Sagi kyōgen has no headmaster (iemoto), this has created a host of conundrums regarding how issues of authenticity, legitimacy and overall preservation of traditions are approached. As such, another crucial objective of this thesis is to illustrate how regionalization, in particular, has served as a surrogate for the iemoto system, informing contemporary Sagi kyōgen practice, preservation and performance.
Monstrous Wives, Murderous Lovers, and Dead Wet Girls: Examining the Feminine Vengeful Ghost in Japanese Traditional Theatre and Horror Cinema
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2022) Yoo, Jennifer Mia; Iezzi, Julie A.; Theatre
As in many cultures, woman is often portrayed as monstrous or evil by the sheer fact of her being female. Today, no Japanese horror film is considered complete without its haunting woman specter, the female onryō, or “vengeful ghost” archetype. Barbara Creed’s writings on the “monstrous feminine” illustrates an innate connection of “affinity” between woman and monster as “potent threats to vulnerable male power.” Although when writing Creed was referring to Western horror cinema, the same theories can be extended to Japanese media. By analyzing elements of narrative style, visual representation, and enactment style of this archetype found in Japanese theatre forms nō and kabuki compared to Japanese horror films, it becomes apparent that the female onryō reflects views of the feminine identity in Japanese society. Contrary to the portrayal of the male, only after these women have become “monstrous” can they break free from sociocultural limitations and act on their vengeance. Their frightening and grotesque forms, however, invoke more terror and horror than sympathy, transforming the victims into the villains. Despite the change in norms of Japanese society over time, the way these female onryō are presented remains arguably consistent, positioning them as more “monsters” and “freaks” than women. More significant is the tendency to associate these characters with feminine traits or behavior, thereby transforming them into something grotesque, extending the association of horror to woman herself. In so doing, the female onryō may have helped serve as a means of patriarchal control prescribing women’s behavior, perhaps explaining the archetype’s continued prevalence in media.
Transforming Novice Learners into Experts through Performance, Reproduction, and Representation: A Performance Studies Analysis of High-Fidelity Simulation in Healthcare Education
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2021) Munro, Alexander; Wessendorf, Markus; Theatre
Simulation is a major component in healthcare education and utilizes many performance-based practices, especially when it includes trained actors to perform as patients receiving simulated care by healthcare learners. The literature that guides the processes of these “high-fidelity” simulations is mostly written from a healthcare perspective, even when the authors are discussing concepts related to performance and theater. This dissertation seeks to address this imbalance by identifying and exploring a wide array of themes that emerge when simulation in healthcare education is framed as a performance, including immersivity, liveness, perceptual multistability, improvisation, and performativity. These themes are grounded on the twin concepts of representation and reproduction to highlight the degree to which simulation shapes its participants and the world they inhabit. What is represented and reproduced – and how it is done through simulation – has a high potential to be replicated in healthcare practice with actual patients. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic, which took place in the final two years of writing this dissertation, disrupted the status quo and challenged many of the practices and theories that long informed simulation pedagogy and performance studies. This disruption, however, created the opportunity to reimagine our respective disciplines and thus improve our practices. Ultimately, this dissertation highlights the performative, interpretive, and performance aspects at play within simulation in healthcare education so that simulation producers can further enhance the intentionality of what they represent and reproduce at their facilities. This can only lead to better outcomes for their learners and for the healthcare community.
Examining International-Mindedness in the International Baccalaureate Theatre Program
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2021) Eleftherakis, Christa Francine; Pauka, Kirstin; Theatre
This dissertation seeks clear identification of how and where the concept of international-mindedness is measurably embedded in the IB Theatre course and assessments. This research will introduce the overall International Baccalaureate (IB) Program and its Diploma Program Theatre course, including the relevant histories and stated aims of each. It will 1) explain the significance of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), 2) establish the IBO as a major world leader as a generator of, and contributor to, international education (Hill), and 3) identify the relative underdevelopment of the international theatre education field. The IBO claims that studying Theatre, specifically through their Diploma Program course, promotes “international-mindedness” (IBO Guide 16). As such, the research critically analyzes the IBO’s Theatre Guide, the syllabus from which all IB Theatre courses are derived, to determine how the IB’s criteria for international-mindedness appear within the course. The research concentrates on revealing the impact the IB Theatre Guide’s structure and content has on implementing international-mindedness within the course, as opposed to a case study into particular institutional or learner interpretations of the concept. The research identifies both foundational strengths and incongruencies in the IB Theatre Guide’s application of international-mindedness, specifically misalignments between the IB Program’s coursework and assessments, and their objectives. Stakeholders of the program may only gain a partial (or limited or narrow) perception of international-mindedness that falls short of the IBO’s full definition. Consequently this constrains the full realization of the course content, student learning outcomes, and the concept's true potential. Given these findings, the analysis resulted in an investigation into how the IBO could preserve and strengthen these functional and beneficial aspects of the course, while improving specific underdeveloped aspects. Four appendices are provided. Appendix A is an IBO-generated image illustrating its “IB Learner Profile.” Appendix B is an IBO-generated image illustrating changing educational trends of the 1960s. Appendix C includes Zina O’Leary’s original checklist for textual analysis. Appendix D includes O’Leary’s original checklist pertaining to document analysis.
Gendering Male Dan: Jingju Male Cross-gender Performers And Performance In The Post-cultural Revolution Era
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2020) Ma, Yan; Wichmann-Walczak, Elizabeth A.; Theatre
The term male dan in this dissertation refers to the male actors who specialize in dan roles or female roles in jingju (Beijing/Peking “opera”). Female actors who act female roles are called female dan in this study. Male dan were instrumental in the development of jingju, beginning with the origin of this art form in the late eighteenth century. The socialist government that established the People’s Republic of China in 1949 had a negative attitude toward cross-gender performances, viewing them as the products of a feudal society; female dan artists who inherited the male dan legacy therefore became predominant in dan role performance after 1949. Public xiqu (Chinese “opera”/traditional Chinese theatre) training schools established in the 1950s did not accept male dan students. During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), male dan who trained before 1949 almost disappeared from the stage. In the post-Cultural Revolution era (1976 to the present), the official attitude toward male dan has not been explicitly conveyed or implicitly suggested by the Party: this ambiguous attitude neither actively supports nor restricts the development of male dan. Starting in the late 1970s, male dan who had been trained before 1949 gradually returned to the stage. However, xiqu training schools remained closed to male dan. In addition to the lingering political sensitivity of male dan development, the social prejudice toward gender and sexual minorities was also a critical obstacle hindering the development of male dan, who were therefore stigmatized both morally and politically. After the 2000s, an increasingly open political and social environment allowed for the emergence of new male dan who explored various training and performance opportunities. Through the combined efforts of male dan and male dan advocates, a few of the new male dan were accepted by jingju training schools and state-run jingju troupes. Successfully established new male dan pursued the male dan identity by negotiating with various institutional and social obstacles and enhanced their male dan identity by cautiously adhering to the male dan tradition created by male dan masters both onstage and offstage. One of the crucial factors in the success of these new male dan is the belief shared among male dan and male dan advocates that male dan performance has its unique values and characteristics which cannot be replicated by female dan. Unlike female dan, who may have to make a fair amount of adjustment to adapt the stylized vocal and physical performance skills and techniques created by male dan to their own circumstances, in the process of imitative learning, male dan may imitate much more directly. In dan role performance, male dan are believed to have more potential for approaching the ideal, refined and stylized beauty established by the male dan tradition. Though the 2010s ushered in an era of a firmer recognition of the unique value of male dan art, and a comparatively more relaxed political and social environment for male dan, xiqu schools were still, in general, not open to accepting male dan students.

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